LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



A NEW-OLD CREED. 

A Manual of Presbyterian Beliefs 



FROM THE AUTHORIZED STANDARDS, WITH AMENDMENTS, 
IN THE ORDER OF 

THE APOSTLES' CREED. 



REV. JOHN S. AXTELL, A. M. 
Celina, Ohio, 
1890. 



Twenty-Five Cents a Copy. 



CEUNA, OHIO: 
Published by L,. S. Jameson, 
Observer Office, 
1890. 



A NEW-OLD CREED. 



The Confession of FlwBlfed 



The Larger Catechism. 



COMBINED AND ARRANGED IN THE ORDER OF 

THE APOSTLES' CREED. , 




REV. JOHN S. AXTELL, A. M 

tt 

Celina, Ohio, 
1890. 



CEI/INA, OHIO: 
Published by L,. S. Jameson, 
Observer Office, 
1890. 




"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask 
for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye 
shall find rest for your souls." — Jeremiah 6:16. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



A. New-Old Creed. Page. 

Introduction 5 

The Apostles' Creed 12 

God, the Father Almighty 13 

1. God and the Holy Trinity 13 

2. The Decrees of God, 14 

3. Creation 16 

4. Providence 16 

5. Man's Free Will and Sin 18 

6. God's Covenant with Man , 19 

Jesus Christ Our Lord 21 

7. The Mediator of the Covenant of Grace .i, 21 

8. Our Lord's Mediatorial Offices 22 

9. Our Lord's Mediatorial Humiliation > 23 

10. Our Lord's Mediatorial Exaltation 24 

The Holy Spirit 26 

11. The Application of Redemption 26 

12. Effectual Calling 26 

13. Repentance.. 27 

14. Saving Faith 27 

15. Justification 29 

16. Adoption. 30 

17. Sanctification 30 

The Church and the Communion of Saints 32 

18. The Holy Catholic Invisible Church , 32 

19. The Holy Visible Church 33 

20. The Government of the Church 34 

21. Synods and Councils 34 

22. The Means of Grace -the Word of God 36 

23. The Reading and the Preaching of the Word 38 

24. The Holy Sacraments 39 

25. Baptism 39 

26. The Lord's Supper 40 

27. The Proper Receiving of the Lord's Supper 42 

28. Prayer 43 

29. The Lord's Prayer 44 

The Forgiveness of Sins 48 

30. The Moral Law . 48 

31. The Ten Commandments 49 

1 3 



4 



TABLE OP CONTENTS. 



Page. 

32. The Duty of Acknowledging God 50 

33. The Law of Worship •. 51 

34. The Duty of Reverence toward God 53 

35. Lawful Oaths and Vows 54 

36. The Law of the Sabbath 55 

37. The Law of Home and Fatherland 56 

38. The Civil Magistrate 58 

39. Respect for Life 59 

40. The Law of Purity 60 

41. Marriage and Divorce 60 

42. The Law of Honesty 61 

43. The Law of Truthfulness : 62 

44. The Law of Contentment f3 

45. The Law Comprehended in Love 63 

46. Transgression and the Penalty 63 

47. Christian Liberty 64 

48. Good Works 65 

49. The Perseverance of the Saints 66 

50. Assurance of Grace and Salvation 67 

The Resurrection of the Body •. 69 

51. Death and the Resurrection 69 

The Life Everlasting 70 

52. The Judgment and the Eternal Glory 70 

The Catechism Re-arranged 71 



INTRODUCTION. 



The aim herein is primarily and chiefly to prepare a hand-book of 
doctrine for those who are interested in the teachings of the Presby- 
terian Church; but incidentally it is desired also ( 1) to call attention 
to the fullness and value of the creed-material contained in the 
Confession of Faith and the Larger Catechism; (2) to advocate the 
combination of all this material in one full creed, rather than 
the formation of a new and shorter creed; (3) to commend the 
"Apostles' Creed " as the confessional creed for all churches, and as 
containing the order of thought which all creeds should follow; (4) 
to suggest a few amendments to our creed in order to bring out 
more clearly its evangelical character; and (5) to suggest the recon- 
struction of all creeds upon the basis of the "great commission" 
and the "Apostles' Creed " as a step toward unity and union. 

Revision of the Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church 
has been asked for by 134 of the 213 Presbyteries. The General 
Assembly has, with providential unanimity, appointed an able com-, 
mittee to " consider the suggestions made by the Presbyteries," and 
report " such alterations and amendments to the Confession of Faith 
as in their judgment may be deemed desirable." The Assembly 
has also, in accordance with the desire of a large majority of the 
Presbyteries, instructed the committee not to propose " any altera- 
tion or amendment that will in any way impair the integrity of the 
Reformed or Calvinistic system of doctrine taught in the Confes- 
sion of Faith." It is certain, therefore, that in the changes that 
will be made there will be no departure from the great doctrines 
that have so long proved a bond of union and a tower of strength 
to our beloved church. The spirit of brotherly love and unity is 
also manifestly present, and it is believed that orthodoxy and fra- 
ternity will no longer be jealous of each other, but in this great 
movement will join hand to hand and work out glorious results for 
Christ and the Church. The Presbyteries have presented a great 
number and variety of suggestions. Some desire a new creed as a 



6 



INTRODUCTION. 



substitute for the old. Others desire a new creed, or a supple- 
mentary statement, to be used along- with the old. Many desire 
simply changes of expression, which, however, whether few or 
many, will so far forth make a new creed out of the old. The great 
question now is, what form of revision will preserve inviolate our 
scriptural and tried system of doctrine, and at the same time satisfy 
the desire for a new creed, and preserve and strengthen in all our 
churches the holy bond of fraternity ? The question leads us to a 
wider outlook. May we not have a revision that will express the 
common belief of all the Reformed churches and attract them into 
closer union ? Yea, more ; may not this movement be so directed as 
to bring about a better understanding, and open the way for mutual 
recognition and fellowship among all true followers of the Lord ? 
These questions cannot be answered by ignoring the work of the 
fathers. Revolution may destroy the monuments of the past. But 
all successful revision and reunion must be along historic lines. 

OUR CONFESSION AND CATECHISM. 

No creed has ever excelled the Confession of Faith and the Cate- 
chism, in fullness or in power, either in the doctrines of religion or 
in the practical duties of Christian life; and there never was a time 
when these strong doctrines and tried rules of life were more needed 
than in this age of looseness in doctrine and lawlessness of life. 
Some would substitute for the old a new and shorter creed, and 
some would write over the face of the old an explanatory or supple- 
mentary statement. But, as our church has always maintained a 
full and strong creed, the acceptance of a shorter creed would 
signify a contraction and weakening of the teachings of the Church, 
and an explanatory statement would, from the nature of the case, 
detract from the force of the original, and practically introduce a 
new creed. What we need is not so much a new creed, as a new 
study of the old; and not less creed, but more ability to use and 
enjoy what we have, especially in the direction of practical life. 
The Larger Catechism contains statements of Christian duty, which 
ought to be kept continually before the people. These rules of life 
now lie hidden between the Confession and the Shorter Catechism, 
and are seldom read, much less studied. A new creed or a supplemen- 
tary statement would put them still further out of sight. This is 
no time for the Church to go backward. The enemy is neither so 
mighty, nor so completely overcome, that we should now give up the 
strongholds secured by our fathers. If we have found it needful 
to remodel some of our defenses and to rebuild some of our towers, 



INTRODUCTION. 



7 



we should at least leave unbroken, and use so far as possible, the 
great stones which our fathers have hewn out for us; and we should 
not fail to go on and build upon these scriptural foundations an 
enlarged and beautiful Christian life. 

THE UNIFICATION OP OUR CREEDS. 

The symbols of our faith are too numerous and diverse. In 
unity as well as in union there is strength. It is both inconvenient 
and confusing for one who is learning our doctrine to have to turn 
from one system to another. The value of the Larger Catechism is 
practically lost by not being in closer union with the Confession of 
Faith. The latter has some rules of life along with its strong doc- 
trines, and the former has some valuable statements of doctrine 
along with its excellent rules of life. The combination of these 
symbols will cover well nigh the whole ground of Christian teach- 
ing, and thus give the Church a complete and noble creed. It will 
be more evenly balanced than either alone, and will not be liable to 
the objections that are now urged against each. The statements of 
the Larger Catechism will make it teach not less of what we are to 
believe concerning God, but more of the duties which he requires 
of us. And these strong scriptural rules of life will give the creed 
a practical value, which is especially needed in this practical, but 
lawless age. The combination of the creeds that we have is, there- 
fore, more to be desired than the construction of others. Unity in 
construction is conducive both to utility and to beauty. In the 
following pages an attempt is made to unite the Confession of Faith 
and Larger Catechism in one system. Where each presents a differ- 
ent phase of the truth from the other, both are used. When both 
speak of the same subject, one is chosen, or the statements are 
combined. In a few cases a new statement seems to be needed. 
But in all cases the aim is to bring out the whole truth as taught 
by the Church, with special attention to the duties of life, and to 
unite all in one full creed. 

THE PLAN OF UNIFICATION. 

The creed, commonly called the Apostles' Creed, is the oldest and 
the most generally accepted of all Christian creeds. It is a model 
which all churches in this age of revision should study. It is script- 
ural in substance, simple in language, and logical in its order of 
thought. No better plan for a creed can be found, and certainly 
none that is more likely to have general acceptance among Chris- 
tians. The combining and arranging of our Confession and Cate- 



8 



A NEW -OLD CREED. 



chism in this order of thought, will unify and simplify our different 
symbols, and give the Church a full, strong creed. It will not leave 
out or change any of our doctrines, but it will give the entire creed 
a confessional, rather than a scholastic form, and encourage didactic 
rather than dogmatic expression, and the irenic rather than the 
polemic spirit. It will make the creed not less Calvinistic, but 
more apostolic; and it will thereby bind the Church more closely 
to the ancient church and to the common Christian brotherhood. 
It will make the creed more, rather than less, orthodox and logical, 
and at the same time more evangelical and practical ; and thus 
while conserving the best thought of the past, it will be fully 
adapted to the pressing needs of the present. 

In arranging our symbols according to this plan, the doctrines of 
God, and of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, remain in their present 
•relation. The doctrines of repentance and faith come into closer 
relation to effectual calling, under the work of the Holy Spirit, 
which is their scriptural place, and is better than in the old plan. 
The Church comes in immediate connection with the work of the 
Holy Spirit, and properly after the application of the benefits of 
salvation to the individuals. The word of God, which, in a work on 
theology, is properly placed at the beginning as showing the source 
and the authority for all doctrine, comes properly, in a confession 
of faith, after the consideration of the Holy Spirit, by whom it is 
given, and in connection with the Church to whom it is given. The 
means of grace, including the word, the sacraments, and . prayer, 
come in with the Church and the communion of saints, and are in 
this arrangement more closely connected with the account of the 
Spirit's work than in the old plan. The law of God, as a rule of life, 
is suggested by and logically precedes the forgiveness of sins; and 
in this connection suggests also that while forgiveness in Christ 
releases us from the penalty of the law, it 'does not release us from 
the law, as a rule of life, but rather secures obedience by writing 
the law upon the heart, and thus also secures perseverance and 
assurance. The resurrection of the body and life everlasting are 
the appropriate conclusion of every creed. 

AMENDMENTS. 

The amendments suggested as desirable are not designed to. set 
aside, or even to modify, any of the doctrines of our creed, but 
simply to state more clearly at certain points what is believed to 
be the truth of Scripture and the actual belief and teaching of 
the Church. The writer has not in this followed his own 



INTRODUCTION. 



9 



opinion merely, but has tried to follow the leading writers of the 
Church. 

The statements of the Confession and Catechism concerning God 
are combined and arranged so as to bring out more clearly the love 
of God. The essential characteristics of his being are first stated ; 
then his personal characteristics, and lastly his personal relations to 
his creatures, ending with his love. The desire in this and in other 
amendments is to bring out not less of the holiness of God, but 
more of his goodness; not less of his justice, but more of his mercy; 
and not less of his sovereignty, but more of his love. 

The chapter on the decrees of God is the point of greatest misun- 
derstanding and controversy. The movement for revision began here. 
It is thought by some that the chapter contains a fatalistic color- 
ing. This, if true, certainly calls for a cleansing that will remove 
all such blots. It is admitted that some of the leaders of the West- 
minster Assembly believed in supralapsarianism; and it is admitted 
that this chapter was written so as not to exclude their view. But 
it is equally true (see Prin. Cunningham, Ref.and Theol. of Ref., 
page 363, etc.) that the great majority of the assembly were sub- 
lapsarians, and that this view has been generally and is the teaching 
of the Church. The desire for revision means simply that the 
Confession should teach what the Church believes, and that the 
forms of expression which give a wrong impression should give 
place to a clearer statement of the actual teaching of the Church. 

In accordance with this view, we bring into Section 1, of this 
chapter, a statement of the permissive decrees, which are always 
spoken of in explaining the decrees. God permits his creatures to 
follow their own will, and suffers them to do some things contrary 
to his will. But whatever he permits them to do in time, he from 
all eternity determined to permit, and therefore all things are in- 
cluded in his eternal purpose. 

Sections 2 and 4 are inferences rather than revelations, and may 
therefore be omitted. 

Section 3 should consider the race as fallen, and should show 
God's, love for the race in the gift of his Son, and also make election 
an expression of his special love and sovereign mercy. 

Section 5, while excluding everything in man as meritorious or 
efficient causes of election, should not exclude prayer and such other 
acts as touch the divine compassion and love. The Church has 
always taught the efficacy of prayer. In leading sinners to Christ, 
we have always pointed to God's promises and urged them to pray 
for pardon and grace. But the Confession does not speak of prayer 



10 



A NEW -OLD CREED. 



except as a Christian duty and as an act of worship. Surely it is 
time that the power of prayer should be more fully recognized in 
our statements of doctrine. 

Section 7 should not have even the appearance of teaching that 
God has any pleasure in the punishment of the wicked; but should 
clearly teach that condemnation is always the holy and just conse- 
quence of sin. Pretention is objectionable, only because, in the way 
it is often stated, it represents God as taking no account whatever 
of the life and character of the individual. If we assume, as we 
ought, that God in his infinite justice and holiness has in all cases 
just and sufficient reasons for passing by those whom he leaves in 
their sins, then the doctrine presents an awful reality, and ought 
not to be omitted from the teachings of the Church. 

Other amendments are given and marked in the text, as in 
vi., 3, 4 ; ix., 6 ; xii., 1, 2, 3 ; xx., 1, 2 ; xxi., 5 ; xxii., 2, 3 ; xxiii., 7, etc. 
The reasons for them cannot now be given, but it is thought that 
they express the actual teaching of the Church. 

A STEP TOWARD UNITY. 

All churches accept the Word of God with the " Great Commis- 
sion," and all recognize the Apostles' Creed as a proper expression of 
their faith. But some churches have made further progress and 
cannot now set aside the special confession and testimony which, 
in the providence of God, they have been called upon to make. 
Neither can one denomination be expected to adopt the confession 
of another. But by going back along historic lines, all will come to 
the same point; and when all recognize the same truth and form 
their creeds after the same model, the points of agreement will 
appear much more numerous and important than the points of 
difference. It is proper for our church, with its full and strong 
creed, to take the lead in this movement ; and, therefore, it is 
respectfully suggested that both the Committee on Revision and 
the Committee on a Consensus Creed, with the creeds of all the 
Reformed churches, give this plan special attention. The recon- 
struction and amendments herein set forth are not assumed to be 
perfect, but they are believed to be in harmony with the requests 
of the Presbyteries, and the plan is commended as in the interests 
of orthodoxy and fraternity. 

The Confession, as given herein, has no authority in the Church, 
and is published only for private use. But as the sections are, for 
the most part, taken from the authorized standards of the Church, 
and as the amendments proposed are believed to express the actual 



INTRODUCTION. 



11 



teachings of the Church, it may be said, by way of introduction, 
that the Presbyterian Church, accepting from the Lord the commis- 
sion which he gave unto the Church to go into all the world and 
make disciples of all the nations, and desiring to conform with his 
directions to teach them to do all things that he has commanded, 
receives and holds the written Word of God as the only infallible 
rule of doctrine and duty; and in conformity therewith, believes 
and teaches the general truths and rules of life contained in the 
following Creed, Confession, and Catechism. 

In the references at the end of each section, the Roman numbers 
refer to the chapter and section of the Confession of Faith ; the 
Arabic numbers, to the Answers of the Larger Catechism. When 
two or more numbers are found together, the references are joined 
in one section. When amendments are made the letter a is added. 
The scriptural references are omitted, but can be found when 
desired in the authorized standards. 



THE ANCIENT CREED, COMMONLY 
CALLED THE APOSTLES' CREED. 



I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and 
earth ; 

And m J esus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived 
by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius 
Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried ; he descended into hell : * 
the third day he arose again from the dead ; he ascended into 
heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty; 
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. 

I believe in the Holy Ghost ; 

The holy catholicf church ; 

The communion of saints ; 

The forgiveness of sins ; 

The resurrection of the body ; 

And the life everlasting. 

Amen. 



*That is, he continued in the state of the dead, and under the power of death, 
until the third day. 

f" Catholic" means universal, and the " catholic church" means the whole body 
of believers, who love and obey the Lord Jesus Christ, though called by different 
names on earth. 

12 



The "Confession" and Testimony 

OF 

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 



GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY. 



I. GOD AND THE HOLY TRINITY. 

1. There is but one living and true God, who is infinite, eternal, 
and unchangeable in his being, absolutely underived, and uncondi- 
tioned, eternally self -existent, and everywhere present ; a perfectly 
pure spirit, without body or parts, invisible, incomprehensible, and 
perfectly free ; infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his power, 
intelligence, wisdom, truth, justice, goodness, and holiness; the 
almighty Creator, Upholder, and Ruler of all the universe, the 
Author of all life; having from all eternity perfect knowledge of all 
his creatures and all their actions, knowing even the innermost 
thoughts and desires of every heart; ruling all creatures by his own 
most wise and just and holy laws, justly requiring perfect obedience 
from all, and holding all intelligent creatures to a perfectly strict 
account ; hating all sin, and never relaxing his infinite justice and 
holiness, but delighting in the forgiveness and restoration of the 
fallen when it can be done in accordance with justice and holiness; 
most merciful, long-suffering, and gracious; having pleasure in all 
goodness and virtue, and abundantly rewarding all that diligently 
seek him ; and being in all his nature and attributes supremely 
and eternally loving and lovable. ( II. : i., n.; 7, 8; a.) 

13 



14 



GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY. 



2. In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one 
substance, power, and eternity; God the Father, God the Son, and 
God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none, neither begotten, nor 
proceeding ; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father ; the Holy 
Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. ( II. : in.) 

3. [God being infinite and incomprehensible in his nature, it 
becomes us to receive with reverence and humility the revelation 
that he has been pleased to give of himself. The doctrine of the 
adorable Trinity — not of three Gods, but of one God in three sub- 
sistences, or persons — is to be received because the Scriptures 
speak of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, as God, 
representing each as a distinct, though not separate, subsistence, or 
person, and ascribing unto each such names, attributes, works, and 
worship as are proper to God only, and at the same time clearly 
teaching that God is one.] (11, a.) 

n. god's eternal decrees. 

1. God from all eternity did in the most wise and holy counsel of 
his own will, [freely choose and unchangeably determine to do, and 
to permit or suffer to be done,] whatsoever comes to pass ; yet so as 
thereby neither is God the author or approver of sin, nor is violence 
offered to the will of the creature, nor is the liberty or contingency 
of second causes taken away, but rather established. (III. : i.; a.) 

2. [God having determined to create angels and man, did, in his 
unsearchable wisdom, determine to suffer some angels and all men 
in the exercise of their own will, to fall into sin, but in his love for 
mankind, he determined to send the Son into the world for the 
salvation of all who should believe-in him ; and in the same eternal 
decree he did, out of pure love and mercy, elect from mankind all 
whom he was pleased for the praise of his glorious grace to foreor- 
dain unto eternal life.] ( III. : in.; a.) 

3. [Election unto life is wholly from God's love and mercy, and for 
the praise of his sovereign grace, and not from any merit or ability 
in the individuals, nor from any efficiency in any rite or ceremony, nor 
because of a foresight of faith or other fruits of saving grace; but 
fervent prayer and such other acts as touch the divine compassion 
and love are not excluded by the Scriptures from the considerations 
which, through God's eternal foreknowledge, entered into the coun- 
sel of his will and led to his sovereign choice.] (III. : v.; a.) 

4_. Election unto life is in all cases accompanied in the eternal 
purpose of God with the appointment of means sufficient unto the 
attainment thereof. Wherefore all whom God, in his foreknowledge 



god's eternal decree. 



15 



and sovereign grace, hath foreordained to be conformed unto the 
image of his Son, he doth effectually call unto faith in Christ by his 
Spirit working in due season, and also justify, adopt, sanctify, and 
by his mighty power keep them through faith unto salvation and 
glory. (III. : vi.; a.) 

5. The rest of mankind who never truly seek after God, and all 
fallen angels, God, in his infallible foreknowledge and infinite wis- 
dom, holiness, and justice, hath, in his eternal purpose, passed by 
and left them in the sins which they have chosen; and not because 
he delighteth in the punishment of the wicked, but for the praise 
of his glorious justice, and the majesty of his holy law, he hath 
ordained them unto the just penalty of their sins. (III.: vn.; a.) 

6. The doctrine [of God's eternal decrees is not to be interpreted 
as in any way opposed to the free offer of salvation unto all men in 
the preaching of the gospel, nor as a hindrance to any who desire to 
come to Christ ; but rather as a divine encouragement to all to seek 
for, and to depend only upon God's love and mercy in Christ ; and 
as a sure ground of hope to those who by] attending to the will of 
God revealed in his word, and yielding obedience thereunto, may 
from the certainty of their effectual calling, be assured of their 
eternal election. So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, 
reverence, and admiration of God, and of humility, diligence, and 
abundant consolation to all that sincerely obey the gospel. ( III. : 
viii.; a.) 

Note: The chapter in the Confession for which the above is proposed as a substi- 
tute, is as lollows: 

III. OF god's ETERNAL, DECREE. 

1. God from all eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, 
freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby neither 
is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is 
the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. 

2. Although God knows whatsoever may or can come to pass upon all supposed 
conditions, yet hath he not decreed anything because he foresaw it as future, or as 
that which would come to pass upon such conditions. 

3. By the decree of God. for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels 
are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death. 

4. These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly 
and unchangeably designed; and their number is so certain and definite that it can- 
not be either increased or diminished. 

5. Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation 
of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret 
counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen, in Christ, unto everlasting glory, 
out of his mere free grace and love, without any foresight of faith, or good works, or 
perseverance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature, as conditions, or 
causes moving him thereunto; and all to the praise of his glorious grace. 



16 



GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY. 



6. As Goi hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath he, by the eternal and 
most free purpose of his will, foreordained all the means thereunto. Wherefore 
they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ; are effectually 
called unto faith in Christ, by his Spirit working in due season; are justified, adopted, 
sanctified, and kept by his power through faith unto salvation. Neither are any 
other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, 
but the elect only. 

7. The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel 
of his own will, whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy, as he pleaseth, for the 
glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to pass by, and to ordain them to 
dishonor and wrath for their sin, to the praise of his glorious justice. 

8. The doctrine of this high mystery of predestination is to be handled with 
special prudence and care, that men, attending the will of God revealed in his word, 
and yielding obedience thereunto, may, from the certainty of their effectual vocation, 
be assured of their eternal election. So shall this doctrine afford matter of praise, 
reverence, and admiration of God; and of humility, diligence, and abundant con- 
solation to all that sincerely obey the gospel. 

III. CREATION. 

1. God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and provi- 
dence; according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and 
immutable counsel of his own will. ( 14.) 

2. It pleased God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the mani- 
festion of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, in 
the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, by the word of his 
power, [in successive periods of time] the world and all things 
therein, whether visible or invisible, and all very good. (IV.: r.; 
15, a.) 

3. After God made all other creatures, he created man, male and 
female, with reasonable and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, 
righteousness, and true holiness, after his own image, having the law 
of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it; and yet under 
a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own 
will, which was subject unto change. Beside this law written in 
their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of the 
knowledge of good and evil; which while they kept, they were happy 
in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures. 
(IV.: ii.) 

IV. PROVIDENCE. 

1. God, the great Creator of all things, doth uphold, direct, dis- 
pose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest 
even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to 
his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of 
his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, 
goodness, and mercy. (V. : t.) 



PROVIDENCE. 



17 



2. Although, in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, 
the first Cause, all things come to pass immutably and infallibly, yet 
by the same providence he ordereth them to fall out, according to 
the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contin- 
gently. But while God, in his ordinary providence, maketh use of 
means, yet he is free to work without, above, and against them, at 
his pleasure. (V. : n., in.; a.) 

3. God, by his providence, [suffered] some of the angels, wilfully 
and irrecoverably, to fall into sin and damnation, limiting and order- 
ing that, and all their sins, to his own glory, and established the 
rest in holiness and happiness, employing them all, at his pleasure, 
in the administrations of his power, mercy, and justice. (19, a.) 

4. The providence of God toward man in the estate in which he 
was created, was the placing him in paradise, appointing him to 
dress it, giving him liberty to eat of the fruit of the earth, putting 
the creatures under his dominion, and ordaining marriage for his 
help ; affording him communion with himself, instituting the Sab- 
bath, entering into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of 
personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience, of which the tree of life 
was a pledge; and forbidding to eat of the tree of the knowledge of 
good and evil, upon the pain of death. (20.) 

5. The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite good- 
ness of God so far manifest themselves in his providence, that it 
extendeth itself even to the first fall, and all other sins of angels 
and men, and that not by a bare [sufferance], but such as hath joined 
with it a most wise and powerful bounding, and otherwise * * * 
governing of them, in a manifold dispensation, to his own holy ends; 
yet so, as the sinfulness thereof proceedeth only from the creature, 
and not from God, who being most holy and righteous, neither is, 
nor can be, the author or approver of sin. ( V. : iv. ; a.) 

6. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes 
leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations, and the 
corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former 
sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption 
and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled ; and 
to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their sup- 
port upon himself, and to make them more watchful against all 
future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends. 
(V.:v.) . 

7. As for those wicked and ungodly men, whom God, as a right- 
eous judge, for former sins, doth blind and harden, from them he 
not only withholdeth his grace, whereby they might have been en- 



18 



GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY. 



lightened in their understandings, and wrought upon in their 
hearts ; but sometimes also withdraweth the gifts which they had, 
and exposeth them to such objects as their corruption makes occa- 
sion of sin ; and withal, gives them over to their own lusts, the 
temptations of the world, and the power of Satan ; whereby it 
comes to pass that they harden themselves, even under those means 
which God useth for the softening of others. ( V. : vi.) 

8. As the providence of God doth, in general, reach to all crea- 
tures, so, after a most special manner, it taketh care of his church, 
and disposeth all things to the good thereof. ( V. : vn.) 

V. FREE WILL, SIN, AND THE PENALTY OF SIN. 

1. God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty 
that it is neither forced, nor by any absolute necessity of nature 
determined to good or evil. ( IX. : i.) 

2. Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom and power to will 
and to do that which is good and well -pleasing to God ; but yet 
mutably, so that he might fall from it. ( IX. : u.) 

3. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of any 
law of God, given as a rule to the reasonable creature. ( 24.) 

4. Our first parents, being seduced by the subtilty and tempta- 
tion of Satan, sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. This their sin 
God, according to his wise and holy counsel, determined to permit, 
having purposed to order it to his own glory. ( VI. : i.; a.) 

5. They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was 
imputed, and the same death in sin, and corrupted nature, conveyed 
to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation, 
and thus the fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery. 
(VI.: in.; 23, a.) 

6. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consisteth 
in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of that righteousness 
wherein he was created, and the corruption of his nature, whereby 
he is utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite unto all that is 
spiritually good, and inclined to evil, and that continually; which 
is commonly called original sin, and from which do proceed all actual 
transgressions. (25, a.) 

7. The fall brought upon mankind the loss of communion with 
God, his displeasure and curse ; so as we are by nature children of 
wrath, bond-slaves to Satan, and justly liable to all punishments in 
this world and that which is to come. ( 27.) 

8. The punishments of sin in this world are either inward, as 
blindness of mind, a reprobate sense, strong delusions, hardness of 



GOD S COVENANT WITH MAN. 



19 



heart, horror of conscience, and vile affections : or outward, as the 
curse of God upon the creatures for our sake, and all other evils 
that befall us in our bodies, names, estates, relations, and employ- 
ments ; together with death itself. ( 28.) 

9. The punishments of sin in the world to come are, everlasting 
separation from the comfortable presence of God, and most grievous 
torments in soul and body, without intermission, in hell-fire for- 
ever. (29,) 

10. Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of 
the righteous law of God, and the contrary thereunto, doth, in its 
own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is -bound 
over to the [wrath of God, and curse of the law, and so made 
subject to death, with all miseries spiritual, temporal, and eternal. 
(VI.: vi.) 

11. Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath lost all ability of will 
to any spiritual good accompanying salvation ; so as a natural man, 
being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, 
by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself there- 
unto. (IX. : in.; a.) 

12. When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state 
of grace, he freeth him from his natural bondage under sin, and by 
his grace alone enables him freely to will and to do that which is 
spiritually good ; yet so as that, by reason of his remaining corrup- 
tion, he doth not perfectly, nor only, will that which is good, but 
doth also will that which is evil. ( IX. : iv.) 

13. The will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to 
good alone, in the state of glory only. ( IX. : v.) 

vi. god's covenant with man. 

1. The distance between God and the creature is so great that 
although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto him as their 
Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of him as their 
blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on 
God's part, which he hath been pleased to express by way of cov- 
enant. ( VII. : i.) 

2. The first covenant made with man was a covenant of works, 
wherein life was promised to Adam, and in him to his posterity, 
upon condition of perfect and personal obedience. ( VII. : n.) 

3. Man, by his fall, having made himself incapable of life by the 
first covenant [God so loved all mankind that he was pleased in great 
condescension to send the Son into the world for the salvation of all 
who should believe in him,] and to make with him as the second 



\ 



20 



GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY. 



Adam, and in him with all the elect, a second covenant, commonly 
called the covenant of grace. (VII. : in.; 30, a.) 

4. The goodness and the grace of God are manifested in the 
second covenant, in that he freely provideth and offereth to sinners 
a mediator, and life and salvation by him ; [ laying upon him the 
penalty of their sins] ; and requiring of them faith in him, that they 
may be saved, and promising to give his Holy Spirit [unto those that 
ask, and unto all the elect ] to make them willing and able to believe, 
and to enable them unto all holy obedience, as the evidence of the 
truth of their faith, and thankfulness to God, and as the way which 
he hath appointed them to salvation. (VII. : in.; 32, a.) 

5. The covenant of grace was not always administered after the 
same manner, but the administrations of it under the Old Testament 
were different from those under the New. (33.) 

6. The covenant of grace was administered under the Old Testa- 
ment, by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the passover, 
and other types and ordinances ; which did all foresignify Christ 
then to come, and were for that time sufficient to build up the elect 
in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they then had full remis- 
sion of sin and eternal salvation. (34.) 

7. Under the gospel, when Christ, the substance, was exhibited, 
the ordinances, in which this covenant is dispensed, are the preach- 
ing of the word, and the administration of the sacraments of bap- 
tism and the Lord's supper ; which, though fewer in number, and 
administered with more simplicity, and less outward glory, yet in 
them it is held forth[in more fullness, evidence, and spiritual efficacy, 
to all nations, both Jews and Gentiles, and is called the New Testa- 
ment. There are not, therefore, two covenants of grace, differing 
in substance, but one and the same under various dispensations. 
(VII. : vi.) 



JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR. 



VII. THE MEDIATOR OP THE COVENANT OF GRACE. 

1. The only mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus 
Christ, the only begotten and eternal Son of God, whom God, in his 
eternal purpose, was pleased to choose and ordain to be the mediator 
between God and man ; the prophet, priest, and king ; the head and 
savior of his church, the heir of all things, and judge of the world ; 
unto whom he did, from all eternity, give a people to be his seed, and 
to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and 
glorified. (36; VIII. : i.) 

2. The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being very 
and eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father, did, 
when the fullness of time was come, take upon him man's nature, 
with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof, yet 
without sin ; being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in 
the womb of the Virgin Mary, of her substance. So that the two 
whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, 
were inseparably joined together in one person, without conversion, 
composition, or confusion. Which person is very God, and very man, 
yet one Christ, the only mediator between God and man. (VIII. : n.) 

3. It was requisite that the mediator should be God, that he 
might sustain and keep the human nature from sinking under the 
infinite wrath of God, and the power of death ; give worth and 
efficacy to his sufferings, obedience, and intercession ; and to satisfy 
God's justice, procure his favor, purchase a peculiar people, give his 
Spirit to them, conquer all their enemies, and bring them to ever- 
lasting salvation. ( 38.) 

4. It was requisite that the mediator should be man, that he 
might advance our nature, perform obedience to the law, suffer and 
make intercession for us in our nature, have a fellow-feeling of our 

3 21 



22 



JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR. 



infirmities ; that we might receive the adoption of sons, and have 
comfort and access with boldness unto the throne of grace. (39.) 

5. It was requisite that the mediator who was to reconcile God 
and man, should himself be both God and man, and this in one per- 
son ; that the proper works of each nature might be accepted of God 
for us, and relied on by us, as the works of the whole person. (40.) 

6. The Lord Jesus, in his human nature thus united to the 
divine, was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above 
measure ; having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, 
in whom it pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell : to the 
end that being holy, harmless, undefiled, and full of grace and truth, 
he might be thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a mediator 
and surety. Which office he took not unto himself, but was there- 
unto called by his Father, who put all power and judgment into his 
hand, and gave him commandment to execute the same. ( VIII. : in.) 

VIII. our lord's mediatorial offices. 

1. Our mediator was called Jesus, because he saveth his people 
from their sins. He was called Christ, because he was anointed 
with the Holy Ghost above measure ; and so set apart, and fully 
furnished with all authority and ability, to execute, [as our medi- 
ator,] the office of prophet, priest, and king, in the estate both of his 
humiliation and exaltation. ( 41, 42, a.) 

2. Christ -executeth the office of a prophet, in his revealing to the 
church in all ages, by his Spirit and word, in divers ways of admin- 
istration, the whole will of God, in all things concerning their edifi- 
cation and salvation. (43.) 

3. Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering 
himself a sacrifice without spot to God, to be a reconciliation for 
the sins of his people ; and in making continual intercession for 
them. (44.) 

4. Christ executeth the office of a king, in calling out of the 
world a people to himself ; and giving them officers, laws, and cen- 
sures, by which he visibly governs them ; in bestowing saving grace 
upon his elect, rewarding their obedience, and correcting them for 
their sins, preserving and supporting them under all their tempta- 
tions and sufferings, restraining and overcoming all their enemies, 
and powerfully ordering all things for his own glory, and their good ; 
and also in taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God, and 
obey not the gospel. ( 45.) 

5. Christ, in the work of mediation, acteth according to both 
natures, by each nature doing that which is proper to itself ; yet by 



our lord's mediatorial, humiliation. 



23 



reason of the unity of the person, that which is proper to one nature 
is sometimes, in scripture, attributed to the person denominated by 
the other nature. ( VIII. : vn.) 

6. Although the work of redemption was not actually wrought 
by Christ till after his incarnation, yet the virtue, efficacy, and bene- 
fits thereof, were communicated unto the elect in all ages succes- 
sively from the beginning of the world, in and by those promises, 
types, and sacrifices, wherein he was revealed, and signified to be the 
seed of the woman, which should bruise the serpent's head, and the 
Lamb slain from the beginning of the world, being yesterday and 
to-day the same and forever. (VIII. : vi.) 

ix. our lord's mediatorial humiliation. 

1. The estate of Christ's humiliation was that low condition, 
wherein he, for our sakes, emptying himself of his glory, took upon 
him the form of a servant, in his conception and birth, life, death, 
and after his death until his resurrection. ( 46.) 

2. Christ humbled himself in his conception and birth, in that, 
being from all eternity the Son of God in the bosom of the Father, 
he was pleased in the fullness of time to become the Son of man, 
made of a woman of low estate, and to be born of her, with divers 
circumstances of more than ordinary abasement. ( 47.) 

3. Christ humbled himself in his life by subjecting himself to 
the law, which he perfectly fulfilled, and by conflicting with the 
indignities of the world, temptations of Satan, and infirmities in his 
flesh ; whether common to the nature of man, or particularly accom- 
panying that his low condition. ( 48.) 

4. Christ humbled himself in his death, in that having been 
betrayed by Judas, forsaken by his disciples, scorned and rejected 
by the world, condemned by Pilate, and tormented by his perse- 
cutors ; having also conflicted with the terrors of death and the 
powers of darkness, felt and borne the weight of God's wrath, he 
laid down his life an offering for sin, enduring the painful, shameful, 
and cursed death of the cross. ( 49.) 

5. Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his being 
buried, and continuing in the state of the dead, and under the power 
of death till the third day, which hath been otherwise expressed in 
these words, he descended into hell. ( 50.) 

6. The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of him- 
self, which he, through the eternal Spirit, once offered up unto God, 
hath fully satisfied the justice of his Father; [made atonement, 
sufficient for all mankind, and freely offered to all ;] and purchased 



24 



JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR. 



not only reconciliation, but an everlasting inheritance in the king- 
dom of heaven, for all those whom the Father hath given unto 
him. (VIII. : v.; a.) 

x. our lord's mediatorial exaltation. 

1. The estate of Christ's exaltation comprehendeth his resurrec- 
tion, ascension, sitting at the right hand of the Father, and his 
coming again to judge the world. (51.) 

2. Christ was exalted in his resurrection, in that, not having seen 
corruption in death (of which it was not possible for him to be held ), 
and having the very same body in which he suffered, with the essen- 
tial properties thereof (but without mortality and other common 
infirmities belonging to this life), really united to his soul, he rose 
again from the dead the third day by his own power ; whereby he 
declared himself to be the Son of God, to have satisfied divine 
justice, to have vanquished death and him that had the power of it, 
and to be Lord of quick and dead. All which he did as a public 
person, the head of his church, for their justification, quickening in 
grace, support against enemies, and to assure them of their resur- 
rection from the dead at the last day. ( 52.) 

3. Christ was exalted in his ascension, in that having, after his 
resurrection, often appeared unto, and conversed with his apostles, 
speaking to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God, 
and giving them commission to preach the gospel to all nations; forty 
days after his resurrection he, in our nature and as our head, tri- 
umphing over enemies, visibly went up into the highest heavens, 
there to receive gifts for men, to raise up our affections thither, and 
to prepare a place for us, where himself is, and shall continue till 
his second coming at the end of the world. ( 53.) 

4. Christ is exalted in his sitting at the right hand of God, in 
that as God-man he is advanced to the highest favor with God the 
Father, with all fullness of joy, glory, and power over all things in 
heaven and earth, and doth gather and defend his church, and sub- 
due their enemies; furnisheth his ministers and people with gifts 
and graces, and maketh intercession for them. (54.) 

5. Christ maketh intercession by his appearing in our nature 
continually before the Father in heaven, in the merit of his obedi- 
ence and sacrifice on earth ; declaring his will to have it applied to 
all believers ; answering all accusations against them ; and procur- 
ing for them quiet of conscience, notwithstanding daily failings, 
access with boldness to the throne of grace, and acceptance of their 
persons and services. (55.) 



our lord's mediatorial exaltation. 



25 



6. Christ is to be exalted in his coming again to judge the world, 
in that he, who was unjustly judged and condemned by wicked 
men, shall come again at the last day in great power, and in the 
full manifestation of his own glory, and of his Father's, with all 
his holy angels, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and 
with the trumpet of God, to judge the world in righteousness. (56.) 



THE HOLY SPIRIT OUR SANCTIFIER. 



XI. THE APPLICATION OF REDEMPTION. 

1. We are made partakers of the benefits which Christ hath 
procured, by the application of thern unto us, which is the work 
especially of God the Holy Ghost. ( 58.) 

2. That we may escape the wrath and curse of God due to us, by 
reason of the transgression of the law, [ and obtain the benefits of 
redemption, God] requireth of us repentance unto life, and faith 
towards our Lord Jesus Christ, and the diligent use of the outward 
means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of his medi- 
ation. (153, a.) 

3. The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, 
by working [repentance and] faith in us, and thereby uniting us to 
Christ in our effectual calling. (C. S. 30, a.) 

XII. EFFECTUAL CALLING. 

1. Effectual calling is the work of God's almighty power and 
grace, whereby out of his free and especial love to his elect, and from 
nothing [ meritorious or efficient ] in them moving him thereunto, he 
doth in his accepted time invite and draw them to Jesus Christ by 
his word and Spirit ; convincing them of their sin and misery, en- 
lightening their minds, spiritually and savingly, to understand the 
things of God, taking away their heart of stone, and giving unto 
them an heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty 
power determining them to that which is good; [so that, although 
in themselves dead in sin, they are by the Spirit of God regenerated,] 
and hereby made willing and able, freely to answer his call, and 
to accept and embrace the grace offered and conveyed therein. 
(17, X.: 1, a.) 

2. [ Those who die in infancy, or are otherwise incapable during 
this life] of being outwardly called by the ministry of the word, 
are by the grace of God regenerated and saved by Christ through 

* 26 



REPENTANCE. 



27 



the Spirit, who worketh when, and where, and how he pleaseth. 
( X. : in. ; a.) 

3. All the elect, and they only, are effectually called : others may 
be, and often are, outwardly called by the ministry of the word, and 
have some common operations of the Spirit, but, for their wilful 
neglect and contempt of the grace offered to them, they are justly 
left in their unbelief and do never truly come to Jesus Christ, [and 
there is no salvation in any other way than by the Lord Jesus 
Christ, through the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit.] ( 68 ; 
X. : iv.; a.) 

XIII. REPENTANCE. 

1. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, wrought in the heart 
of a sinner by the Spirit and word of God, whereby out of the sight 
and sense, not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and 
odiousness of his sins, and upon the apprehension of God's mercy in 
Christ, to such as are penitent, he so grieves for and hates his sins, 
as that he turns from them all to God, purposing and endeavoring 
constantly to walk with him in all the w ays of new obedience. ( 76.) 

2. Although repentance be not to be rested in as any satisfaction 
for sin, or any cause of the pardon thereof, which is the act of God's 
free grace in Christ ; yet is it of such necessity to all sinners that 
none may expect pardon without it. (XV. : in.) 

3. As there is no sin so small but it deserves condemnation, so 
there is no sin so great that it can bring condemnation upon those 
who truly -repent. (XV. : rv.; a.) 

4. Men ought not to content themselves with a general repent- 
ance, but it is every man's duty to endeavor to repent of his partic- 
ular sins, particularly. ( XV. : v.) 

5. As every man is bound to make private confession of his sins 
to God, praying for the pardon thereof ; upon which, and the for- 
saking of them, he shall find mercy ; so he that scandalizeth his 
brother, or the church of Christ, ought to be willing, by a private or 
public confession and sorrow for his sin, to declare his repentance to 
those that are offended ; who are thereupon to be reconciled to him 
and in love to receive him. ( XV. : vi.) 

XIV. SAVING FAITH. 

1. Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a 
sinner, by the Spirit and word of God ; whereby he, being convinced 
of his sin and misery, and of the disability in himself and all other 
creatures to recover him out of his lost condition, not only assenteth 



28 



THE HOLY SPIRIT OUR SANCTIFIER. 



to the truth of the promise of the gospel, but receiveth and resteth 
upon Christ and his righteousness therein held forth, for pardon of 
sin, and for the accepting and accounting of his person righteous in 
the sight of God for salvation. ( 72.) 

2. The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to 
the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their 
hearts ; and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the word ; by 
which also, and by the administration of the sacraments and prayer, 
it is increased and strengthened. ( XIV. : i.) 

3. By this faith a Christian believeth to be true whatsoever is 
revealed in the word, for the authority of God himself speaking 
therein, and acteth differently upon that which each particular 
passage thereof containeth ; yielding obedience to the commands, 
trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God 
for this life, and that which is to come. But the principal acts of 
saving faith are, accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone 
for justification, sanctitication, and eternal life, by virtue of the 
covenant of grace. ( XIV. : n.) 

4. This faith is different in degrees, weak or strong; may be often 
and in many ways assailed and weakened, but gets the victory; grow- 
ing up in many to the attainment of a full assurance through Christ, 
who is both the author and finisher of our faith. (XIV. : in.) 



BENEFITS OF UNION WITH CHKIST. 



XV. JUSTIFICATION. 

1. The communion in grace, which the elect have with Christ, is 
their partaking of the virtue of his mediation, in their justification, 
adoption, sanctification, and whatever else in this life manifests 
their union with him. ( 69.) 

2. Justification is an act of God's free grace unto sinners, in 
which he pardoneth all their sin, accepteth and accounteth their 
persons righteous in his sight ; not for anything wrought in them, 
or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satis- 
faction of Christ, by God imputed to them, and received by faith 
alone. ( 70.) 

3. Faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, not because of 
those other graces which do always accompany it, or of good works 
that are the fruits of it ; nor as if the grace of faith, or any act 
thereof, were imputed to him for justification ; but only as it is an 
instrument, by which he receiveth and applieth Christ and his 
righteousness. ( 72.) 

4. Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteous- 
ness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet is it not alone in the 
person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving 
graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love. (XL: n.) 

5. Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt 
of all those that are thus justified, and did make a proper, real, and 
full satisfaction to his Father's justice in their behalf. Yet, inas- 
much as he was given by the Father for them, and his obedience and 
satisfaction accepted in their stead, and both freely, not for anything 
in them, their justification is only of free grace ; that both the exact 
justice, and rich grace of God, might be glorified in the justification 
of sinners. (XL: nr.) 

6. God did, from all eternity, decree to justify all the elect ; and 

29 



30 



THE HOLY SPIRIT OUR SANCTIFIER. 



Christ did, in the fullness of time, die for their sins, and rise again 
for their justification ; nevertheless, they are not justified, until the 
Holy Spirit doth, in due time, actually apply Christ unto them. 
(XL: iv.) 

7. God doth continue to forgive the sins of those that are justi- 
fied : and although they can never fall from the state of justification, 
yet they may by their sins fall under God's fatherly displeasure, and 
not have the light of his countenance restored unto them, until they 
humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their 
faith and repentance. (XL: v.) 

8. The justification of believers under the Old Testament was, 
in all these respects, one and the same with the justification of 
believers under the New Testament. (XL: vi.) 

XVI. ADOPTION. 

1. Adoption is an act of free grace of God in and for his only 
Son Jesus Christ, whereby all those that are justified are received 
into the number of his children; have his name put upon them; the 
Spirit of his Son given to them ; are admitted to all the liberties 
and privileges of the sons of God ; have access to the throne of 
grace with boldness ; are enabled to cry, Abba, Father ; are pitied, 
protected, provided for, and chastened by him as by a father ; yet 
never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption, and inherit the 
promises as fellow-heirs with Christ in glory. (74; XII. : i.; a.) 

XVII. SANCTIFICATION. 

1. Sanctification is a work of God's grace, whereby they, who are 
effectually called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new 
spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, 
through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, by his word 
and Spirit dwelling in them ; the dominion of the whole body of 
sin is overcome, and the several lusts thereof are more and more 
weakened and mortified ; and having the seeds of repentance unto 
life, and all other saving graces put into their hearts, and those 
graces stirred up, increased, and strengthened, they more and more 
die unto sin, and rise unto newness of life, after the image of God, 
and to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see 
the Lord. ( XIII. : i.; 76, a.) 

2. Although sanctification be inseparably joined with justifica- 
tion, yet they differ in that God in justification, imputeth the 
righteousness of Christ ; in sanctification, his Spirit infuseth grace, 
and enableth to the exercise thereof ; in the former, sin is pardoned ; 



SAJSCTIFICATION. 



31 



in the other, it is subdued ; the one doth equally free all believers 
from the revenging wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life, 
that they never fall into condemnation ; the other is neither equal 
in all, nor in this life perfect in any, but growing up to perfec- 
tion. ( 77.) 

3. The imperfection of sanctincation in believers ariseth from 
the remnants of sin abiding in every part of them, and the per- 
petual lustings of the flesh against the Spirit ; whereby they are 
often foiled with temptations, and fall into many sins, are hindered 
in all their spiritual services, and their best works are imperfect 
and denied in the sight of God ; yet, through the continual supply 
of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate 
part doth overcome ; and so the saints grow in grace, perfecting 
holiness in the fear of God. ( 78 ; XIII. : ra.) 



THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNION 
OF SAINTS. 



XVIII. THE HOLY CATHOLIC INVISIBLE CHURCH. 

1. The invisible church is the whole number of the elect that 
have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the head 
thereof ; and is the spouse, the body, the fullness of him that filleth 
all in all. (64 ; XXV. : i.) 

2. The members of the invisible church enjoy union and com- 
munion with Christ in grace and glory. (65, a.) 

3. The union which the elect have with Christ is the work of 
God's grace, whereby they are spiritually and mystically, yet really 
and inseparably, joined to Christ as their head and husband, which 
is done in their effectual calling. (66.) 

4. The members of the invisible church have communicated to 
them, in this life, the first-fruits of glory with Christ, as they are 
members of him their head, and so in him are interested in that 
glory which he is fully possessed of ; and as an earnest thereof, 
enjoy the sense of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in Jbhe Holy 
Ghost, and hope of glory. As, on the contrary, sense of God's 
revenging wrath, horror of conscience, and a fearful expectation of 
judgment, are to the wicked the beginning of the torments which 
they shall endure after death. (67.) 

5. All saints that are united to Jesus Christ their head by his 
Spirit and by faith, have fellowship with him in his graces, sufferings, 
death, resurrection, and glory ; and, being united to one another in 
love, they have communion in each other's gift and graces, and are 
obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do 
conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man. 
(XXVI.: i.) 



THE HOLY VISIBLE CHURCH. 



33 



6. Saints, by profession, are bound to maintain an holy fellowship 
and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other 
spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification; as also in 
relieving each other in outward things, according to their several 
abilities and necessities. Which communion, as God offereth op- 
portunity, is to be extended unto all those who, in every place, call 
upon the name of the Lord Jesus. ( XXVI. : n.) 

7. This communion, which the saints have with Christ, doth not 
make them in any wise partakers of the substance of his Godhead, 
or to be equal with Christ in any respect ; either of which to affirm, 
is impious and blasphemous. Nor doth their communion one with 
another, as saints, take away, or infringe the title or property which 
each man hath, in his goods and possessions. ( XXVI. : in.) 

\ 

XIX. THE HOLY VISIBLE CHURCH. 

1. The visible church, which is also catholic or universal under 
the gospel, ( not confined to one nation, as before under the law,) is a 
society made up of all those throughout the world, that profess the 
true religion, together with their children ; and is the kingdom of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God, out of which 
there is [ordinarily no promise] of salvation. (XXV.: il; 62, a.) 

2. Unto this visible church, Christ hath given the ministry, 
oracles, and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of 
the saints, in this life, to the end of the world ; and doth by his own 
presence and Spirit, according to his promise, make them effectual 
thereunto. (XXV.: m.) 

3. The visible church hath the privilege of being under God's 
special care and government ; of being protected and preserved in 
all ages, notwithstanding the opposition of all enemies ; and of en- 
joying the communion of saints, the ordinary means of salvation, and 
offers of grace by Christ, to all members of it, in the ministry of the 
gospel, testifying that whosoever believes in him shall be saved, and 
excluding none that will come unto him. (63.) 

4. This catholic church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less, 
visible. And particular churches, which are members thereof, are 
more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the gospel is taught 
and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship per- 
formed more or less purely in them. ( XXV. : iv.) 

5. The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture 
and error ; and some have so degenerated as to become no churches of 
Christ, but synagogues of Satan. Nevertheless, there shall be always 
a church on earth to worship God according to his will. ( XXV. : v.) 



34 



THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 



XX. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH. 

1. [The only Head of the Church in heaven and on earth is the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and the only infallible law of the Church is the 
written word of God.] ( XXV. : vi. ; a. ) 

2. The Lord Jesus, as king and head of his church, hath therein 
appointed a government, in the hand of church officers, distinct from 
the civil magistrate- [These officers, being under Christ and his 
law, have only ministerial and declarative power.] ( XXX. : i.; a.) 

3. To these officers the keys of the kingdom of heaven are com- 
mitted, by virtue whereof they have power respectively * * * to 
shut that kingdom against the impenitent, both by the word and 
censures ; and to open it unto penitent sinners by the ministry of 
the gospel, and by absolution from censures, as occasion shall re- 
quire. ( XXX. : il. } a.) 

4. Church [discipline and] censures are necessary for the re- 
claiming and gaining of offending brethren ; for deterring of others 
from like offenses ; for purging out of that leaven which might in- 
fect the whole lump ; for vindicating the honor of Christ, and the 
holy profession of the gospel ; and for preventing the wrath of God, 
which might justly fall upon the Church, if they should suffer his 
covenant, and the seals thereof, to be profaned by notorious and 
obstinate offenders. (XXX. : in.; a.) 

5. For the better attaining .of these ends, the officers of the 
Church are to proceed by admonition, suspension from the sacra- 
ment of the Lord's supper for a season, and by excommunication 
from the Church, according to the nature of the crime, and demerit 
of the person. (XXX.: iv.) 

XXI. SYNODS AND COUNCILS. 

1. For the better government and further edification of the 
Church, there ought to be such assemblies as are commonly called 
Synods or Councils: and it belongeth to the overseers and other 
rulers of the particular churches, by virtue of their office, and the 
power which Christ hath given them for edification, and not for 
destruction, to appoint such assemblies ; and to convene together in 
them, as often as they shall judge it expedient for the good of the 
Church. (XXXI.: i.) 

2. It belongeth to Synods and Councils, ministerially to deter- 
mine controversies of faith, and cases of conscience ; to set down 
rules and directions for the better ordering of the public worship of 
God, and government of his church ; to receive complaints in cases 



SYNODS AND COUNCILS. 



35 



of maladministration, and authoritatively to determine the same ; 
which decrees and determinations, if consonant to the word of God, 
are to be received with reverence and submission, not only for their 
agreement with the word, but also for the power whereby they are 
made, as being an ordinance of God, appointed thereunto in his 
word. (XXXL: n.) 

3. All Synods or Councils since the apostles' times, whether 
general or particular, may err, and many have erred ; therefore they 
are not to be made the rule of faith or practice, but to be used as a 
help in both. (XXXL: ill) 

4. Synods and Councils are to handle or conclude nothing but 
that which is ecclesiastical : and are not to intermeddle with civil 
affairs which concern the commonwealth, unless by way of humble 
petition in cases extraordinary ; or by way of advice for satisfaction 
of conscience, if they be thereunto required by the civil magistrate. 
(XXXL: iv.) 

5. [The Lord hath not appointed, neither hath 'he authorized the 
church to appoint any man to have supreme authority over the 
church on earth or any part thereof, or since the apostles to have 
infallibility therein ; and all so-called infallible decrees, decisions, or 
excommunications by anyone who has presumed to claim such power 
are without authority and void.] ( XXV.: vi.; a.) 



THE MEANS OF GRACE. 



XXII. THE WORD OF GOD. 

1. The outward and ordinary means, whereby Christ communicates 
to his church the benefits of his mediation, are all his ordinances ; 
especially the word, sacraments, and prayer ; all which are made 
effectual to the elect for their salvation. ( 154.) 

2. Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and 
providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of 
God, as to leave men inexcusable ; yet are they not sufficient to give 
that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto 
salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in 
divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto 
his church ; and afterwards for the better preserving and propaga- 
ting of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort 
of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of 
Satan and the world,' to [ inspire holy men to commit to writing such 
revelations and other truths as he deemed necessary for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness ; that the 
man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good 
works.] ( I. : i.; a.) 

3. The Holy Scriptures are known to be the word of God ; [ by 
the character and testimony of the writers;] by the majesty and 
purity of the truth which they contain ; by the consent of all the 
parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God ; 
by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort 
and build up believers unto salvation ; and [ especially by the char- 
acter and work of the Savior whom they set forth], and by the 
testimony of the Spirit of God bearing witness by and with the 
Scriptures in the heart of man that they are the very word of God. 
(I.: v.; 4, a.) 



THE WORD OF GOD. 



37 



4. [ The writings which have come to us with the credentials of 
inspiration are the books of the Old and New Testament, and these 
only.] The books commonly called Apocrypha, not being of divine 
inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture ; and, there- 
fore, are of no authority in the church of God, nor to be any other- 
wise approved, or made use of, than other human writings. ( I. : n., 
in.; a.) 

5. The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be 
believed and obeyed, dependeth not upon the testimony of any man, 
or church, but wholly upon God (who is truth itself), the author 
thereof ; and, therefore, it is to be received, because it is the word of 
God. ( I. : iv.) 

6. The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for 
his own glory, man's salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set 
down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be 
deduced from Scripture ; unto which nothing at any time is to be 
added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of 
men. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the 
Spirit of God to be necessary, for the saving understanding of such 
things as are revealed in the word ; and that there are some circum- 
stances concerning the worship of God, and government of the 
Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be 
ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according 
to the general rules of the word, which are always to be observed. 
(J.: vi.) 

7. All things in Scripture are not alike plain in themselves, nor 
alike clear unto all ; yet those things which are necessary to be 
known, believed, and observed, for salvation, are so clearly pro- 
pounded and opened in some place of Scripture or other, that not 
only the learned, but the unlearned, in a due use of the ordinary 
means, may attain unto a sufficient understanding of them. ( I. : vn.) 

8. The Old Testament in Hebrew, (which was the native lan- 
guage of the people of God of old,) and the New Testament in 
Greek, ( which at the time of the writing of it was most generally 
known to the nations,) being immediately inspired by God, and by 
his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore 
authentical ; so as, in all controversies of religion, the Church is 
finally to appeal unto them. But because these original tongues are 
not known to all the people of God, who have right unto, and in- 
terest in the Scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to 
read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the 
language of every nation unto which they come, that the word of 

4 



38 



THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 



God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship hirn in an accept- 
able manner ; and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, 
may have hope. (I.: vm.) 

9. The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scrip- 
ture itself ; and therefore, when there is a question about the true 
and full sense of any scripture, ( which is not manifold, but one,) it 
must be searched and known by other places that speak more 
clearly. (L: ix.) 

10. The Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are 
to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient 
writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined, 
and in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no ot.her but the Holy 
Spirit speaking in the Scripture. (L: x.) 

XXIII. THE READING AND THE PREACHING OP THE WORD. 

1. The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the 
preaching of the word, an effectual means of enlightening, convinc- 
ing and humbling sinners, of driving them out of themselves, and 
drawing them unto Christ ; of conforming them to his image, and 
subduing them to his will ; of strengthening them against temp- 
tations and corruptions ; of building them up in grace, and estab- 
lishing their hearts in holiness and comfort through faith unto 
salvation. (155.) 

2. Although all are not permitted to read the word publicly to 
the congregation, yet all sorts of people are bound to read it apart 
by themselves, and with their families. (156.) 

3. The Holy Scriptures are to be read with an high and reverent 
esteem of them ; with a firm persuasion that they are the very word 
of God, and that he only can enable us to understand them ; with 
desire to know, believe, and obey, the will of God revealed in them ; 
with diligence, and attention to the matter and scope of them ; with 
meditation, application, self-denial, and prayer. ( 157.) 

4. The word of God is to be preached only by such as are suffi- 
ciently gifted, and also duly approved and called to that office. ( 158.) 

5. They that are called to labor in the ministry of the word are 
to preach sound doctrine, diligently, in season, and out of season ; 
plainly, not in the enticing word of man's wisdom, but in demonstra- 
tion of the Spirit, and of power ; faithfully, making known the whole 
counsel of God ; wisely, applying themselves to the necessities and 
capacities of the hearers ; zealously, with fervent love to God, and 
the souls of his people ; sincerely, aiming at his glory, and their con- 
version, edification, and salvation. ( 159.) 



THE HOLY SACRAMENTS. 



39 



6. It is required of those that hear the word preached, that they 
attend upon it with diligence, preparation, and prayer, examine what 
they hear by the Scriptures ; receive the truth with faith, love, 
meekness, and readiness of mind, as the word of God ; meditate, and 
confer of it ; hide it in their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in 
their lives. ( 160.) 

7. [ The word of God is to be proclaimed by the Church unto all 
the world, as the revelation of God's love and mercy in Christ unto 
all who believe, and as the declaration of his holy will which all are 
under obligations to obey.] (a.) 

XXIV. THE HOLY SACRAMENTS. 

1. A sacrament is an holy ordinance instituted by Christ in his 
church, to signify, seal, and exhibit unto those that are within the 
covenant of grace, the benefits of his mediation ; to strengthen and 
increase their faith and all other graces ; to oblige them to obedi- 
ence ; to testify and cherish their love and communion one with an- 
other, and to distinguish them from those that are without. ( 162.) 

2. The parts of a sacrament are two ; the one, an outward and 
sensible sign used according to Christ's own appointment ; the other, 
an inward and spiritual grace thereby signified. ( 163.) 

3. There is in every sacrament a spiritual relation or sacramental 
union, between the sign and the thing signified ; whence it comes 
to pass, that the names and effects of the one are attributed to the 
other. (XXVII.: n.) 

4. The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not by 
any power in themselves, or any virtue derived from the piety or 
intention of him by whom they are administered ; but only by the 
working of the Holy Ghost, and the blessing of Christ by whom 
they are instituted. ( 161.) 

5. There be only two sacraments ordained by Christ our Lord in 
the Gospel, that is to say, baptism and the supper of the Lord ; 
neither of which may be dispensed by any but by a minister of the 
word lawfully ordained. ( XXVII. : iv.) 

6. The sacraments of the Old Testament, in regard of the spir- 
itual things thereby signified and exhibited, were, for substance, the 
same with those of the New. ( XXVII. : v.) 

xxv. BAPTISM. 

1. Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, wherein Christ 
hath ordained the washing with water in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, to be a sign and seal of in- 



40 



THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNION OP SAINTS. 



grafting into himself, of remission of sins by his blood, and regener- 
ation by his Spirit ; of adoption, and resurrection unto everlasting 
life ; and whereby the parties baptized are solemnly admitted unto 
the visible church, and enter into an open and professed engagement 
to be wholly and only the Lord's. ( 165.) 

2. The outward element to be used in this sacrament is water, 
wherewith the party is to be baptized in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by a minister of the gospel, 
lawfully called thereunto. (XXVIII.: n.) 

3. Dipping of the person into water is not necessary , but baptism 
is rightly administered by pouring, or sprinkling water upon the 
person. (XXVIII.: in.) 

4. Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the 
visible church, and so strangers from the covenant of promise, till 
they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to him ; but infants 
descending from parents, either both or but one of them, professing 
faith in Christ, and obedience to him, are, in that respect, within the 
covenant, and are to be baptized. ( 166.) 

5. Although grace and salvation are not so inseparably annexed 
unto baptism, as that no person can be regenerated or saved without 
it, or that all are baptized are undoubtedly regenerated ; yet it is a 
great sin to contemn or neglect this ordinance. (XXVIII.: v.; a.) 

6. The needful but much neglected duty of improving our bap- 
tism, is to be performed by us all our life long, especially in the time 
of temptation, and when we are present at the administration of it 
to others, by serious and thankful consideration of the nature of it, 
and of the ends for which Christ instituted it, the privileges and 
benefits conferred and sealed thereby, and our solemn vow made 
therein ; by being humbled for our sinful defilement, our falling 
short of, and walking contrary to, the -grace of baptism and our 
engagements ; by growing up to assurance of pardon of sin, and of 
all other blessings sealed to us in that sacrament ; by drawing 
strength from the death and resurrection of Christ, unto whom we 
are baptized, for the mortifying of sin, and quickening of grace ; and 
by endeavoring to live by faith, to have our conversation in holiness 
and righteousness, as those that have therein given up their names 
to Christ, and to walk in brotherly love, as being baptized by the 
same Spirit into one body. ( 167.) 

XXVI. THE LORD'S SUPPER. 

1. Our Lord Jesus, in the night wherein he was betrayed, insti- 
tuted the sacrament of his body and blood, called the Lord's Supper, 
to be observed in his church, unto the end of the world ; for the per- 



THE LORD'S SUPPER. 



41 



petual remembrance of the sacrifice of himself in his death, the 
sealing all benefits thereof unto true believers, their spiritual nour- 
ishment and growth in him, their further engagement in and to all 
duties which they owe unto him ; and to be a bond and pledge of 
their communion with him, and with each other, as members of his 
mystical body. (XXIX.: i.) 

2. In this sacrament, Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor 
any real sacrifice made at all, for remission of sins of the quick or 
dead ; but only a commemoration of that one offering up of himself 
by himself, upon the cross, once for all, and a spiritual oblation of 
all possible praise unto God for the same. ( XXIX.: n.; a.) 

3. Christ hath appointed the ministers of his word, in the ad- 
ministration of this sacrament of the Lord's supper, to set apart the 
bread and wine from common use by the word of institution, thanks- 
giving, and prayer ; to take and break the bread, and to give both 
the bread and the wine to the communicants, who are by the same 
appointment to take and eat the bread, and to drink the wine, in 
thankful remembrance that the body of Christ was broken and 
given, and his blood shed for them. ( 169.) 

4. As the body and blood of Christ are not corporally or carnally 
present in, with, or under the bread and wine in the Lord's supper ; 
and yet are spiritually present to the faith of the receiver, no less 
truly and really than the elements themselves are to their outward 
senses ; so they that worthily communicate in the sacrament of the 
Lord's supper, do therein feed upon the body and blood of Christ, 
not after a corporal or carnal, but in a spiritual manner ; yet truly 
and really, while by faith they receive and apply unto themselves 
Christ crucified, and all the benefits of his death. ( 170.) 

5. That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of 
bread and wine, into the substance of Christ's body and blood ( com- 
monly called transubstantiation ) by consecration of a priest, or by 
any other way, is repugnant, not to Scripture alone, but even to 
common sense and reason ; overthroweth the nature of the sacra- 
ment ; and hath been, and is, the cause of manifold supersti- 
tions. (XXIX.: vi.) 

6. The sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper agree, in that 
the author of both is God ; the spiritual part of both is Christ and 
his benefits ; both are seals of the same covenant, are to be dis- 
pensed by ministers of the gospel and by none other ; and to be 
continued in the church of Christ until his second coming. ( 176.) 

7. The sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper differ, in 
that baptism is to be administered but once, with water, to be a sign 



42 



THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 



and seal of our regeneration and ingrafting into Christ, and that 
even to infants ; whereas the Lord's supper is to be administered 
often, in the elements of bread and wine, to represent and exhibit 
Christ as spiritual nourishment to the soul, and to confirm our con- 
tinuance and growth in him, and that only to such as are of years 
and ability to examine themselves. ( 177.) 

XXVn. THE PROPER RECEIVING OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 

1. They that receive the sacrament of the Lord's supper are, 
before they come, to prepare themselves thereunto, by examining 
themselves, of their being in Christ, of their sins and wants ; of the 
truth and measure of their knowledge, faith, repentance, love to God 
and the brethren, charity to all men, forgiving those that have done 
them wrong, of their desires after Christ, and of their new obedi- 
ence ; and by renewing the exercise of these graces, by serious 
meditation, and fervent prayer. ( 171.) 

2. One who doubteth of his being in Christ, or of his due prepara- 
tion to the sacrament of the Lord's supper, may have true interest 
in Christ, though he be not yet assured thereof ; and in God's 
account hath it, if he be duly affected with the apprehension of the 
want of it, and unfeignedly desirous to be found in Christ, and to 
depart from iniquity ; in which case l because promises are made, 
and this sacrament is appointed for the relief even of weak and 
doubting Christians ) he is to bewail his unbelief, and labor to have 
his doubts resolved ; and so doing, he may and ought to come to the 
Lord's supper, that he may be further strengthened. ( 172.) 

3. Such as are found to be ignorant or scandalous, notwithstand- 
ing their profession of the faith, and desire to come to the Lord's 
supper, may and ought to be kept from that sacrament by the power 
which Christ hath left in his church, until they receive instruction, 
and manifest their reformation. ( 173.) 

4. It is required of them that receive the sacrament of the Lord's 
supper, that during the time of the administration of it, with all 
holy reverence and attention, they wait upon God in that ordinance; 
diligently observe the sacramental elements and actions ; needfully 
discern the Lord's body, and affectionately meditate on his death 
and sufferings, and thereby stir up themselves to a vigorous exercise 
of their graces ; in judging themselves and sorrowing for sin ; ~in 
earnest hungering and thirsting after Christ, feeding on him by 
faith, receiving of his fullness ; trusting in his merits, rejoicing in 
his love, giving thanks for his grace ; in renewing of their covenant 
with God, and love to all the saints. { 174.) 



PRAYER. 



13 



5. The duty of Christians, after they have received the sacrament 
of the Lord's supper, is seriously to consider how they have behaved 
themselves therein, and with what success ; if they find quickening 
and comfort, to bless God for it, beg the continuance of it, watch 
against relapse, fulfill their vows, and encourage themselves to a 
frequent attendance on that ordinance : but if they find no present 
benefit, more exactly to review their preparation to, and carriage at 
the sacrament ; in both which if they can approve themselves to 
God and their own consciences, they are to wait for the fruit of it in 
due time ; but if they see that they have failed in either, they are to 
be humbled, and to attend upon it afterward with more care and 
diligence. (175.) 

XXVIII. PRAYER. 

1. Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of 
Christ, by the help of his Spirit ; with confession of our sins, and 
thankful acknowledgment of his mercies. ( 178.) 

2. God only being able to search the heart, hear the requests, 
pardon the sins, and fulfill the desires of all, and only to be believed 
in, and worshiped with religious worship ; prayer, which is a 
special part thereof, is to be made by all to him alone, and to none 
other. ( 179.) 

3. To pray in the name of Christ, is, in obedience to his com- 
mand, and in confidence on his promises, to asl$ mercy for his sake : 
not by bare mentioning of his name ; but by drawing our encourage- 
ment to pray, and our boldness, strength, and hope of acceptance in 
prayer, from Christ and his mediation. ( 180.) 

4. The sinfulness of man, and his distance from God by reason 
thereof, being so great as that we can have no access into his pres- 
ence without a mediator, and there being none in heaven or earth 
appointed to, or fit for, that glorious work but Christ alone, we are 
to pray in no other name but his only. ( 181.) 

5. We not knowing what to pray for, as we ought, the Spirit 
helpeth our infirmities, by enabling us to understand both for whom, 
and what, and how prayer is to be made ; and by working and quick- 
ening in our hearts, ( although not in all persons, nor at all times 
in the same measure) those apprehensions, affections, and graces, 
which are requisite for the right performance of that duty. ( 182.) 

6. We are to pray for the whole church of Christ upon earth, for 
magistrates, and ministers, for ourselves, our brethren, yea, our 
enemies, and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter ; 
but not for the dead, nor for those that are known to have sinned 
the sin unto death. ( 183. ) 



44 THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNION OP SAINTS. 

7. We are to pray for all things tending to the glory of God, the 
welfare of the Church, our own or others' good; but not for any- 
thing that is unlawful. ( 184.) 

8. We are to pray with an awful apprehension of the majesty of 
God, and deep sense of our own unworthiness, necessities, and sins ; 
with penitent, thankful, and enlarged hearts ; with understanding, 
faith, sincerity, fervency, love, and perseverance, waiting upon him 
with humble submission to his will. ( 185.) 

9. The whole word of God is of use to direct us in the duty of 
praying ; but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer 
which our Savior Christ taught his disciples, commonly called, The 
Lord's Prayer. (186.) 

10. The Lord's prayer is not only for direction, as a pattern 
according to which we are to make other prayers ; but may be also 
used as a prayer so that it be done with understanding, faith, rever- 
ence, and other graces necessary to the right performance of the 
duty of prayer. ( 187. ) 

XXIX. THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

1. The Lord's prayer consists of three parts — a preface, petitions, 
and a conclusion — and is as follows : 

Preface. 

Our Father which art in heaven, 

Petitions. 

I. Hallowed be thy name ; 

II. Thy kingdom come : 

III. Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven ; 

IV. Give us this day our daily bread ; 

V. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors ; 
VI. And lead us cot into temptation, but deliver us from evil ; 

Conclusion. 

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. 
Amen. 

2. The preface of the Lord's prayer (contained in these words, 
Our Father which art in heaven) teacheth us, when we pray, to draw 
near to God with confidence of his fatherly goodness, and our in- 
terest therein ; with reverence, and all other child-like dispositions, 
heavenly affections, and due apprehensions of his sovereign power, 
majesty, and gracious condescension : as also to pray with and for 
others. (189.) 



THE LORD'S PRAYER. 



45 



3. In the first petition (which is, Hallowed be thy name), ac- 
knowledging the utter inability and indisposition that is in ourselves 
and all men to honor God aright ; we pray that God would by his 
grace enable and incline us and others to know, to acknowledge, and 
highly to esteem him, his titles, attributes, ordinances, word, works, 
and whatsoever he is pleased to make himself known by; and to 
glorify him in thought, word, and deed ; that he would prevent and 
remove atheism, ignorance, idolatry, profaneness, and whatsoever is 
dishonorable to him ; and by his overruling providence, direct and 
dispose of all things to his own glory. ( 190. ) 

4. In the second petition (which is, Thy kingdom come), ac- 
knowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the 
dominion of sin -and Satan, we pray that the kingdom of sin and 
Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the 
world, the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles brought in ; the 
Church furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances, purged 
from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magis- 
trate ; that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and 
made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, 
and the confirming, comforting, and building up of those that are 
already converted ; that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and 
hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him 
forever ; and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of 
his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends. ( 191.) 

5. In the third petition ( which is, Thy will be done on earth as it 
is in heaven), acknowledging that by nature we and all men are not 
only utterly unable and unwilling to know and do the will of God, 
but prone to rebel against his word, to repine and murmur against 
his providence, and wholly inclined to do the will of the flesh, and 
of the devil : we pray that God would by his Spirit take away from 
ourselves and others all blindness, weakness, indisposedness, and 
perverseness of heart, and by his grace make us able and willing to 
know, do, and submit to his will in all things, with the like humility, 
cheerfulness, faithfulness, diligence, zeal, sincerity, and constancy, 
as the angels do in heaven. ( 192.) 

6. In the fourth petition, ( which is, Give us this day our daily 
bread ) acknowledging that in Adam, and by our own sin, we have 
forfeited our right to all the outward blessings of this life, ( and de- 
serve to be wholly deprived of them by God, and to have them 
cursed to us in the use of them ; ) and that neither they of them- 
selves are able to sustain us, nor we to merit, or by our own industry 
to procure them, but prone to desire, get, and use them lawfully : 



46 



THE CHURCH AND THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 



we pray for ourselves and others, that both they and we, waiting 
upon the providence of God from day to day in the use of unlawful 
means, may of his free gift, and as to his fatherly wisdom shall seem 
best, enjoy a competent portion of them, and have the same con- 
tinued and blessed unto us in our holy and comfortable use of them, 
and contentment in them ; and be kept from all things that are 
contrary to our temporal support and comfort. (193.) 

7. In the fifth petition, ( which is, Forgive us our debts, as we 
forgive our debtors ) acknowledging that we and all others are 
guilty both of original and actual sin, and thereby become debtors 
to the justice of God, and that neither we nor any other creature can 
make the least satisfaction for that debt ; we pray for ourselves and 
others, that God of his free grace would, through the obedience and 
satisfaction of Christ apprehended and applied by faith, acquit us 
both from the guilt and punishment of sin, accept us in his Beloved, 
continue his favor and grace to us, pardon our daily failings, and 
fill us with peace and joy, in giving us daily more and more assur- 
ance of forgiveness, which we are the rather emboldened to ask, and 
encouraged to expect, when we have this testimony in ourselves, 
that we from the heart forgive others their offenses. ( 194.) 

8. In the sixth petition, ( which is, And lead us not into tempta- 
tion, but deliver us from evil ) acknowledging that the most wise, 
righteous, and gracious God, for divers holy and just ends, may so 
order things that we may be assaulted, foiled, and for a time led 
captive by temptations; that Satan, the world, and the flesh, are 
ready powerfully to draw us aside and ensnare us ; and that we, 
even after the pardon of our sins, by reason of our corruption, 
weakness, and want of watchfulness, are not only subject to be 
tempted, and forward to expose ourselves unto temptations, but also 
of ourselves unable and unwilling to resist them, to recover out of 
them, and to improve them ; and worthy to be left under the power 
of them ; we pray, that God would so overrule the world and all 
in it, subdue the flesh, and restrain Satan, order all things, bestow 
and bless all means of grace, and quicken us to watchfulness in the 
use of them, that we and all his people may by his providence be 
kept from being tempted to sin ; or, if tempted, that by his Spirit 
we may be powerfully supported and enabled to stand in the hour 
of temptation ; or, when fallen, raised again and recovered out of it, 
and have a sanctified use and improvement thereof ; that our 
sanctification and salvation may be perfected, Satan trodden under 
our feet, and we fully freed from sin, temptation, and all evil for- 
ever. (195.) 



THE LORD S PRAYER. 



47 



9. The conclusion of the Lord's prayer ( which is, For thine is the 
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.) teacheth 
us to enforce our petitions with arguments, which are to be taken, 
not from any worthiness in ourselves, or in any other creature, but 
from God : and with our prayers to join praises, ascribing to God 
alone eternal sovereignty, omnipotency, and glorious excellency ; in 
regard whereof, as he is able and willing to help us, so we by faith 
are emboldened to plead with him that he would, and quietly to rely 
upon him that he will, fulfill our requests. And to testify our desires 
and assurance, we say, Amen. ( 196.) 



THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 



XXX. THE MORAL, LAW. 

1. The moral law is the declaration of the will of God to man- 
kind, directing and binding every one to personal, perfect, and 
perpetual conformity and obedience thereunto, in the frame and 
disposition of the whole man, soul and body, and in performance of 
all those duties of holiness and righteousness which he oweth to 
God and man ; promising life upon the fulfilling, and threatening 
death upon the breach of it. (93.) 

2. The rule of obedience revealed to Adam as a covenant of 
works, in the estate of innocence, and to all mankind in him, beside 
a special command, not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowl- 
edge of good and evil, was the moral law ; and this law, after his 
fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness for all mankind. 
(92; XIX.: i.; a.) 

3. Besides this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to 
give to the people of Israel, as a church under age, ceremonial laws, 
containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring 
Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits ; and partly hold- 
ing forth divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial 
laws are now abrogated under the New Testament. ( XIX.: in.) 

4. To them also, as a body politic, he gave sundry judicial laws, 
which expired together with the state of that people, not obliging 
any other now, further than the general equity thereof may require. 
(XIX.: iv.) 

5. The moral law doth forever bind all, as well justified persons 
as others, to the obedience thereof ; and that not only in regard of 
the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of 
God the Creator who gave it. Neither doth Christ in the gospel any 
way dissolve, but much strengthen, this obligation. (XIX. : v.) 

48 . 



THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 



49 



6. The moral law is of use to all men, to inform them of the holy 
nature and will of God, and of their duty, binding them to walk ac- 
cordingly ; to convince them of their disability to keep it, and of the 
sinful pollution of their nature, hearts, and lives, to humble them in 
the sense of their sin and misery, and thereby help them to a clearer 
sight of the need they have of Christ, and of the perfection of his 
obedience. ( 95.) 

7. The moral law is of use to unregenerate men, to awaken their 
consciences to flee from the wrath to come, and to drive them to 
Christ ; or, upon their continuance in the estate and way of sin, to 
leave them inexcusable, and under the curse thereof. ( 96.) 

8. Although they that are regenerate and believe in Christ, be 
delivered from the moral law as a covenant of works, so as thereby 
they are neither justified nor condemned, yet, beside the general 
uses thereof common to them with all men, it is of special use to 
show them how much they are bound to Christ for his fulfilling it, 
and enduring the curse thereof, in their stead and for their good ; 
and thereby to provoke them to more thankfulness, and to express 
the same in their greater care to conform themselves thereunto as 
the rule of their obedience. ( 97.) 

XXXI. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 

1. The moral law is summarily, comprehended in the ten com- 
mandments, which were delivered by the voice of God upon Mount 
Sinai, and written by him on two tables of stone ; and are recorded 
in the twentieth chapter of Exodus ; the first four commandments 
containing our duty to God, and the other six our duty to man. (98.) 

2. For the right understanding of the ten commandments, these 
rules are to be observed : — 

(1.) That the law is perfect, and bindeth every one to full con- 
formity in the whole man unto the righteousness thereof, and unto 
entire obedience forever; so as to require the utmost perfection of 
every duty, and to forbid the least degree of every sin. 

( 2.) That it is spiritual, and so reach eth the understanding, will, 
affections, and all other powers of the soul ; as well as words, works, 
and gestures. 

( 3.) That one and the same thing, in divers respects, is required 
or forbidden in several commandments. 

( 4.) That as, where a duty is commanded, the contrary sin is for- 
bidden ; and where a sin is forbidden, the contrary duty is com- 
manded : so, where a promise is annexed, the contrary threatening 
is included, and where a threatening is annexed, the contrary prom- 
ise is included. 



50 



THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 



( 5.) That what God forbids, is at no time to be done ; what he 
commands is always our duty ; and yet every particular duty is not 
to be done at all times. 

(6.) That, under one sin or duty, all of the same kind are for- 
bidden or commanded ; together with all the causes, means, occa- 
sions, and appearances thereof, and provocations thereunto. 

(7.) That what is forbidden or commanded to ourselves, we are 
bound, according to our places, to endeavor that it may be avoided 
or performed by others, according to the duty of their places. 

( 8.) That in what is commanded to others, we are bound, accord- 
ing to our places and callings, to be helpful to them ; and to take 
heed of partaking with others in what is forbidden them. (99.) 

3. We are to consider in the ten commandments, the preface, the 
substance of the commandments themselves, and the several reasons 
annexed to some of them the more to enforce them. ( 100.) 

4. The preface to the ten commandments is contained in these 
words, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the 
land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Wherein God mani- 
festeth his sovereignty, as being Jehovah, the eternal, immutable, 
and almighty God ; having his being in and of himself, and giving 
being to all his words and works ; and that he is a God in covenant, 
as with Israel of old, so with all his people; who as he brought them 
out of their bondage in Egypt, so he delivered us from our spiritual 
thraldom ; and that therefore we are bound to take him for our God 
alone, and to keep all his commandments. ( 101.) 

XXXII. THE DUTY OF ACKNOWLEDGING GOD. 

1. The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods 
before me. 

2. The duties required in the first commandment are, the know- 
ing and acknowledging of God to be the only true God, and our 
God ; and to worship and glorify him accordingly ; by thinking, 
meditating, remembering, highly esteeming, honoring, adoring, 
choosing, loving, desiring, fearing of him ; believing him ; trusting, 
hoping, delighting, rejoicing in him ; being zealous for him ; calling 
upon him, giving all praise and thanks, and yielding all obedience 
and submission to him with the whole man ; being careful in all 
things to please him, and sorrowful when in anything he is offended ; 
and walking humbly with him. ( 104.) 

3. The sins forbidden in the first commandment are atheism, in 
denying, or not having a God ; idolatry, in having or worshiping 
more gods than one, or any with, or instead of the true God ; the 



THE LAW OP WORSHIP. 



51 



not having and vouching him for God, and our God ; the omission 
or neglect of anything due to him, required in this commandment ; 
ignorance, forgetfulness, misapprehensions, false opinions, unworthy 
and wicked thoughts of him ; bold and curious searchings into his 
secrets, all prof aneness, hatred of God, self-love, self-seeking, and all 
other inordinate and immoderate setting of our mind, will, or affec- 
tions upon other things, and taking them off from him in whole or 
in part ; vain credulity, unbelief, heresy, misbelief, distrust, despair ; 
incorrigibleness, and insensibleness under judgments, hardness of 
heart, pride, presumption, carnal security, tempting of God ; using 
unlawful means ; and trusting in lawful means ; carnal delights and 
joys ; corrupt, blind, and indiscreet zeal ; lukewarmness, and dead- 
ness in the things of God ; estranging ourselves, and apostasizing 
from God ; praying or giving any religious worship to saints, angels, 
or any other creatures ; all compacts and consulting with the 
devil, and hearkening to his suggestions ; making men the lords of 
our faith and conscience ; slighting and despising God and his 
commands; resisting and grieving of his Spirit; discontent and 
impatience at his dispensations ; charging him foolishly for the 
evils he inflicts on us; and ascribing the praise of any good we 
either are, have, or can do, to fortune, idols, ourselves, or any other 
creature. ( 105.) 

4. These words ( before me, or before my face,) in the first com- 
mandment, teach us that God, who seeth all things, taketh special 
notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other 
god; that so it may be an argument to dissuade from it, and to 
aggravate it as a most impudent provocation; as also to persuade us 
to do as in his sight, whatever we do in his service. (106.) 

XXXIII. THE LAW OP WORSHIP. 

1. The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee 
any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven 
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under 
the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve 
them : for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the ini- 
quity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth 
generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thou- 
sands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 

2. The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath 
lordship and sovereignty over all ; is good, and doeth good unto all ; 
and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, 
and served with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the 



52 



THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 



might. But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is insti- 
tuted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he 
may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of 
men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation 
or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture. (XXI.: i.) 

3. Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost, and to him alone; not to angels, saints, or any other 
creature; and since the fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the 
mediation of any other, but of Christ alone. ( XXI. : n.) 

4. The duties required in the second commandment are, the re- 
ceiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious 
worship and ordinances as God hath instituted in his word ; particu- 
larly prayer and thanksgiving in the name of Christ ; the reading, 
preaching, and hearing of the word ; the administration and receiv- 
ing of the sacraments; church government and discipline ; the 
ministry and maintenance thereof ; religious fasting ; swearing by 
the name of God ; and vowing unto him; as also the disapproving, 
detesting, opposing all false worship; and, according to each one's 
place and calling, removing it, and all monuments of idolatry. ( 108.) 

5. The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devis- 
ing, counseling, commanding, using, and any wise approving any 
religious worship not instituted by God himself ; th© making of any 
representation of God, of all, or of any of the three Persons, either 
inwardly in our mind or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness 
of any creature whatsoever; all worshiping of it, or God in it or by 
it ; the making of any representation of feigned deities, and all 
worship of them, or service belonging to them ; all superstitious 
devices, corrupting the worship of God, adding to it, or taking from 
it, whether invented and taken up of ourselves, or received hj tra- 
dition from others, though under the title of antiquity, custom, 
devotion, good intent, or any other pretense whatsoever; simony, 
sacrilege ; all neglect, contempt, hindering, and opposing the worship 
and ordinances which God hath appointed. ( 109.) 

6. Neither prayer, nor any other part of religious worship, is now, 
under the gospel, either tied unto, or made more acceptable by any 
place in which it is performed, or towards which it is directed ; but 
God is to be worshiped everywhere, in spirit and in truth; as in private 
families daily, and in secret each one by himself, so more solemnly 
in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly or wilfully to be 
neglected or forsaken, when God, by his word or providence, calleth 
thereunto. (XXI.: vi.) 

7. The reasons annexed to the second commandment, the more to 



REVERENCE TOWARD GOD. 



53 



enforce it, contained in these words, For I the Lord thy God am a 
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children 
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: and 
shoiving mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my 
commandments; are, besides God's sovereignty over us, and pro- 
priety in us, his fervent zeal for his own worship, and his indignation 
against all false worship, as being a spiritual impurity ; accounting 
the breakers of this commandment such as hate him, and threaten- 
ing to punish them unto divers generations, and esteeming the 
observers of it such as love him and keep his commandments, and 
promising mercy to them unto many generations. ( 110, a.) 

XXXIV. REVERENCE TOWARD GOD. 

1. The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of 
the Lord thy God in vain : for the Lord will not hold him guiltless 
that taketh his name in vain. 

2. The third commandment requires that the name of God, his 
titles, attributes, ordinances, the word, sacraments, prayer, oaths, 
vows, lots, his works, and whatsoever else there is whereby he makes 
himself known, be holily and reverently used in thought, meditation, 
word, and writing ; by an holy profession, and answerable conversa- 
tion, to the glory of God, and the good of ourselves and others. ( 112. ) 

3. The sins forbidden in the third commandment are, the not 
using of God's name as is required ; and the abuse of it in an igno- 
rant, vain, irreverent, profane, superstitious, or wicked mentioning 
or otherwise using the titles, attributes, ordinances, or works; by 
blasphemy ; perjury ; all sinful cursing, oaths, vows, and lots ; vio- 
lating our oaths and vows, if lawful ; and fulfilling them, if of 
things unlawful ; murmuring and quarreling at, curious prying into, 
and misapplying of God's decrees and providences ; misinterpreting, 
misapplying, or any way perverting the word, or any part of it, to 
profane jests, curious and unprofitable questions, vain janglings, or 
the maintaining of false doctrines ; abusing it, the creatures, or any- 
thing contained under the name of God, to charms, or sinful lusts 
and practices; the maligning, scorning, reviling, or in any way opposing 
of God's truth, grace, and ways ; making profession of religion in 
hypocrisy, or for sinister ends; being ashamed of it, or a shame to 
it, by uncomfortable, unwise, unfruitful, and offensive walking or 
backsliding from it. (113.) 

4. The reasons annexed to the third commandment, in these 
words, the Lord thy God, and, for the Lord will not hold him 
guiltless that taketh his name in vain, are, because he is the Lord 



54 



THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 



and our God, therefore his name is not to be profaned, or any way- 
abused by us ; especially because he will be so far from acquitting 
and sparing the transgressors of this commandment, as that he will 
not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment, albeit many such 
escape the censures and punishments of men. ( 114.) 

XXXV. LAWFUL OATHS. AND VOWS. 

1. A lawful oath is a part of religious worship, wherein upon just 
occasion, the person swearing, solemnly calleth to God to witness 
what he asserteth or promiseth ; and to judge him according to the 
truth or falsehood of what he sweareth. ( XXII. : i. ) 

2. The name of God only is that by which men ought to swear, 
and therein it is to be used with all holy fear and reverence ; there- 
fore to swear vainly or rashly by that glorious and dreadful name, or 
to swear at all by any other thing, is sinful, and to be abhorred. 
Yet as, in matters of weight and moment, an oath is warranted by 
the word of God under the New Testament, as well as under the 
Old, so a lawful oath, being imposed by lawful authority, in such 
matters ought to be taken. ( XXII. : n.) 

3. Whosoever taketh an oath ought duly to consider the weighti- 
ness of so solemn an act, and therein to avouch nothing but what he 
is fully persuaded is the truth. Neither may any man bind himself 
by oath to anything but what is good and just, and what he believeth 
so to be, and what he is able and resolved to perform. Yet it is a 
sin to refuse an oath touching anything that is good and just, being 
imposed by lawful authority. (XXIL: in.) 

4. An oath is to be taken in the plain and common sense of the 
w T ords, without equivocation or mental reservation. It cannot oblige 
to sin ; but in anything not sinful, being taken, it binds to perform- 
ance, although to a man's own hurt ; nor is it to be violated, although 
made to heretics or infidels. ( XXII.: iv.) 

5. A vow is of the like nature with a promissory oath, and ought 
to be made with the like religious care, and to be performed with 
the like faithfulness. ( XXIL : v.) 

6. It is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone ; and 
that it may be accepted, it is to be made voluntarily, out of faith, 
and conscience of duty, in way of thankfulness for mercy received, 
or for the obtaining of what we want ; whereby we more strictly 
bind ourselves to necessary duties, or to other things, so far and so 
long as they may fitly conduce thereunto. ( XXIL: vi.) 

7. No man may vow to do anything forbidden in the word of God, 
or what would hinder any duty therein commanded, or which is not 



THE LAW OF THE SABBATH. 



55 



in his own power, and for the performance whereof he hath no 
promise or ability from God. In which respects, popish monastical 
vows of perpetual single life, professed poverty, and regular obedi- 
ence are so far from being degrees of higher perfection, that they 
are superstitious and sinful snares, in which no Christian may 
entangle himself. ( XXII. : vn.) 

XXXVI. THE LAW OF THE SABBATH. 

1. The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath clay, to 
keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work : but 
the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt 
not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man- 
servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that 
is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and 
earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: 
wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 

2. The fourth commandment requireth of all men the sanctifying 
or keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his 
word. ( 116, a.) 

3. As it is of the law of nature that, in general, a due proportion 
of time be set apart for the worship of God ; so, in his word, by a 
positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all 
ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a Sabbath, 
to be kept holy unto him. ( XXI. : vn.; a.) 

4. The day which God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath, from 
the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the 
last day of the week ; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was 
changed into the first day of the week, which in Scripture is called 
the Lord's day, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as 
the Christian Sabbath. (XXI.: vn.; a.) 

5. The Sabbath, or Lord's day, is to be sanctified by an holy rest- 
ing all that day, not only from such works as are at all times sinful, 
but even from such worldly employments and recreations as are on 
other days lawful ; and making it our delight to spend the whole 
time ( except so much of it as is to be taken up in works of 
necessity and mercy ) in the public and private exercises of God's 
worship. And, to that end, we are to prepare our hearts, and with 
such foresight, diligence, and moderation, to dispose, and seasonably 
to despatch our worldly business, that we may be the more free and 
fit for the duties of that day. ( 117.) 

6. The charge of keeping the Sabbath is more specially directed 
to governors of families and other superiors, because they are bound 



56 



THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 



not only to keep it themselves, but to see that it be observed by all 
those that are under their charge; and because they are prone oft- 
times to hinder them by employments of their own. { 118. ) 

7. The sins forbidden in the fourth commandment are, all omis- 
sions of the duties required, all careless, negligent, and unprofitable 
performing of them, and being weary of them ; all profaning the 
day by idleness, and doing that which is in itself sinful ; and by all 
needless works, words, and thoughts, about our worldly employments 
and recreations. ( 119. ) 

8. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the more to 
enforce it, are taken from the equity of it, God allowing us six days 
of seven for our own affairs, and reserving but one for himself, in 
these words, six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work ; from 
God's challenging a special propriety in that day, tlie seventh is the 
sabbath of the Lord thy God ; from the example of God who in six 
days made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and 
rested the seventh day; and from that blessing which God put 
upon that day, not only in sanctifying it to be a day for his service, 
but in ordaining it to be a means of blessing to us in our sancti- 
fying it, ivherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed 
it. ( 120.) 

9. The word remember is set in the beginning of the fourth com- 
mandment, partly because of the great benefit of remembering it, 
we being thereby helped in our preparation to keep it ; and, in 
keeping it, better to keep all the rest of the commandments, and 
to continue a thankful remembrance of the two great benefits of 
creation and redemption, which contain a short abridgment of relig- 
ion ; and partly because we are ready to forget it, for that there is 
less light of nature for it, and yet it restraineth our natural liberty 
in things at other times lawful ; that it cometh but once in seven 
days, and many worldly businesses come between, and too often take 
off our minds from thinking of it, either to prepare for it, or to 
sanctify it ; and that Satan with his instruments, much labors to 
blot out the glory, and even the memory of it, and to bring in all 
irreligion and impiety. ( 121. ) 

XXXVII. THE LAW OF HOME AND FATHERLAND. 

1. The fifth commandment is, tionour. thy father and thy mother, 
that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God 
giveth thee. 

2. By father and mother, in the fifth commandment, are meant 
not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and gifts : and 



THE LAW OF HOME AND FATHERLAND. 



57 



especially such as by God's ordinance are over us in place of author- 
ity, whether in family, church, or commonwealth. ( 124. ) 

3. Superiors are styled father and mother, both to teach them in 
all duties toward their inferiors, like natural parents, to express love 
and tenderness to them, according to their several relations, and to 
work inferiors to a greater willingness and cheerfulness in perform- 
ing their duties to their superiors, as to their parents. ( 125. ) 

4. The general scope of the fifth commandment is the perform- 
ance of those duties which we mutually owe in our several relations 
as inferiors, superiors, or equals. ( 126.) 

5. The honor which inferiors owe to their superiors is, all due 
reverence in heart, word, and behavior ; prayer and thanksgiving 
for them ; imitation of their virtues and graces ; willing obedience 
to their lawful commands and counsels ; due submission to their 
corrections ; fidelity to, defense and maintenance of their persons 
and authority, according to their several ranks, and the nature of 
their places ; bearing with their infirmities, and covering them in 
love, that so they may be an honor to them and to their govern- 
ment. (127.) 

6. The sins of inferiors against their superiors are, all neglect of 
duties required toward them ; envying at, contempt of, and rebellion 
against their persons and places, in their lawful counsels, commands, 
and corrections ; cursing, mocking, and all such refractory and 
scandalous carriage, as proves a shame and dishonor to them and 
their government. ( 128.) 

7. It is required of superiors, according to that power they 
receive from God, and that relation wherein they stand, to love, 
pray for, and bless their inferiors ; to instruct, counsel, and admon- 
ish them ; countenancing, commending, and rewarding such as do 
well ; and discountenancing, reproving, and chastising such as do ill ; 
protecting, and providing for them all things necessary for soul and 
body ; and by grave, wise, holy, and exemplary carriage, to procure 
glory to God, honor to themselves, and so to preserve that authority 
which God hath put upon them. (129.) 

8. The sins of superiors are, besides the neglect of the duties 
required of them, an inordinate seeking of themselves, their own 
glory, ease, profit, or pleasure ; commanding things unlawful, or not 
in the power of inferiors to perform ; counseling, encouraging, or 
favoring them in that which is evil ; dissuading, discouraging, 
•or discountenancing them in that which is good ; correcting them 
unduly ; careless exposing, or leaving them, to wrong temptation, 
and danger ; provoking them to wrath ; or any way dishonoring 



58 



THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 



themselves, or lessening their authority by an unjust, indiscreet,, 
rigorous, or remiss behavior. ( 130. 

9. The duties of equals are, to regard the dignity and worth of 
each other, in giving honor to go one before another ; and to rejoice 
in each other's gifts and advancement as their own. ( 131.) 

10. The sins of equals are, besides the neglect of the duties re- 
quired, the undervaluing of the worth, envying the gifts, grieving at. 
the advancement or prosperity one of another ; and usurping pre- 
eminence one over another. ( 132. i 

11. The reason annexed to the fifth commandment in these words, 
that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God 
giveth thee, is an express promise of long life and prosperity, as far 
as it shall serve for God's glory and their own good, to all such as 
keep this commandment. ( 133.) 

XXXVIII. THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE. 

1. God, the Supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath 
ordained .civil magistrates to be under him over the people, for his 
own glory and the public good, and to this end, hath armed them 
with the power of the sword, for the defense and encouragement 
of them that are good, and for the punishment of evil doers. 
( XXIII. : i.) 

2. It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of 
a magistrate, when called thereunto; in the managing whereof, as 
they ought especially to maintain piety, justice, and peace, according 
to the wholesome laws of each commonwealth, so, for that end, they 
may lawfully, now, under the New Testament, wage war upon just 
and necessary occasions. (XXIII.: n.) 

3. Civil magistrates may not assume to themselves the adminis- 
tration of the word and sacraments, or the power of the key of 
the kingdom of heaven ; or, in the least, interfere in matters 
of faith. Yet as nursing fathers, it is the duty of civil magis- 
trates to protect the church of our common Lord, without giving 
the preference to any denomination of Christians above the rest, 
in such a manner, that all ecclesiastical persons whatever shall 
enjoy the full, free, and unquestioned liberty of discharging every 
part of their sacred functions, without violence or danger. And, as 
Jesus Christ hath appointed a regular government and discipline in 
his church, no law of any commonwealth should interfere with, let, 
or hinder, the due exercise thereof, among the voluntary members 
of any denomination of Christians, according to their own profession 
and belief. It is the duty of civil magistrates to protect the person 



RESPECT FOR LIFE. 



59 



and good name of all their people, in such an effectual manner as 
that no person be suffered, either upon pretense of religion or infi- 
delity, to offer any indignity, violence, abuse, or injury to any other 
person whatsoever : and to take order, that all religious and eccle- 
siastical assemblies be held without molestation or disturbance. 
(XXIII.: in.) 

4. It is the duty of people to pray for magistrates, to honor 
their persons, to pay them tribute and other dues, to obey their 
lawful commands, and to be subject to their authority, for con- 
science's sake. Infidelity, or difference in religion, doth not make void 
the magistrate's just and legal authority, nor free the people from 
their due obedience to him ; from which ecclesiastical persons 
are not exempted ; much less bath the Pope any power or juris- 
diction over them in their dominions,.or over any of their people; 
and least of all to deprive them of their dominions or lives, if he 
shall judge them to be heretics, or upon any other pretense what- 
soever. (XXIII.: iv.) 

XXXIX. RESPECT FOR LIFE. 

1. The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill. 

2. The duties required in the sixth commandment are, all careful 
studies, and lawful endeavors, to preserve the life of ourselves and 
others, by resisting all thoughts and purposes, subduing all passions, 
and avoiding all occasions, temptations, and practices, which tend 
to the unjust taking away the life of any ; by just defense thereof 
against violence ; patient bearing of the hand of God ; quietness of 
mind, cheerfulness of spirit, a sober use of meat, drink, physic, sleep, 
labor, and recreation ; by charitable thoughts, love, compassion, 
meekness, gentleness, kindness ; peaceable, mild, and courteous 
speeches and behavior ; forbearance, readiness to be reconciled, 
patient bearing and forgiving of injuries, and requiting good for 
evil ; comforting and succoring the distressed, and protecting and 
defending the innocent. ( 135.) 

3. The sins forbidden in the sixth commandment are, all taking 
away the life of ourselves, or of others, except in case of public 
justice, lawful war, or necessary defense; the neglecting or with- 
drawing the lawful or necessary means of preservation of life ; sin- 
ful anger, hatred, envy, desire of revenge ; all excessive passions, 
distracting cares ; immoderate use of meat, drink, labor, and 
recreations ; provoking words ; oppression, quarrelling, striking, 
wounding, and whatsoever else tends to the destruction of the life 
of any. (136.) 



60 



THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 



XL. THE LAW OF PURITY. 

1. The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery. 

2. The duties required in the seventh commandment are, chastity 
in body, mind, affections, words, and behavior ; and the preserva- 
tion of it in ourselves and others ; watchfulness over the eyes and all 
the senses ; temperance, keeping of chaste company, modesty in 
apparel ; marriage by those that have not the gift of continency ; 
conjugal love, and cohabitation ; diligent labor in our callings ; 
shunning all occasions of uncleanness, and resisting temptations 
thereunto. ( 138.) 

3. The sins forbidden in the seventh commandment, besides the 
neglect of the duties required, are adultery, fornication, rape, incest, 
sodomy, and all unnatural lusts ; all unclean imaginations, thoughts, 
purposes, and affections ; all corrupt or filthy communications, or 
listening thereunto ; wanton looks, impudent or light behavior, 
immodest apparel ; prohibiting of lawful, and dispensing with un- 
lawful marriages ; allowing, tolerating, keeping of stews, or bawdy 
houses, and resorting to them ; entangling vows of single life, undue 
delay of marriage ; having more wives or husbands than one at the 
same time ; unjust divorce or desertion ; idleness, gluttony, drunken- 
ness, unchaste company ; lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings, 
stage-plays, and all other provocations to, or acts of uncleanness 
either in ourselves or others. ( 139.) 

XLI. MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE. 

1. Marriage is to be between one man and one woman ; neither is 
it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman 
to have more than one husband at the same time. ( XXIV. : i.) 

2. Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and 
wife ; for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and of 
the church with an holy seed ; and for preventing of uncleanness. 
(XXIV.: ii.) 

3. It is lawful for all sorts of people to marry who are able with 
judgment to give their consent, yet it is the duty of Christians to 
marry only in the Lord. And, therefore, such as profess the true 
reformed religion should not marry with such as are notoriously 
wicked in their life, or maintain dangerous heresies. (XXIV. : in.) 

4. Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity 
or affinity forbidden in the w T ord ; nor can such incestuous marriages 
ever be made lawful by any law of man, or consent of parties, so as 
those persons may live together as man and wife. (XXIV.: iv.) 



THE LAW OF HONESTY. 



61 



5. Adultery or fornication, committed after a contract,, being 
detected before marriage, giveth just occasion to the innocent party 
to dissolve that contract. In the case of adultery after marriage, it 
is lawful for the innocent party to sue out a divorce, and after the 
divorce to marry another, as if the offending party were dead. 
(XXIV.: v.) 

6. Although the corruption of man be such as is apt to study 
arguments unduly to put asunder those whom God hath joined 
together in marriage ; yet nothing but adultery, or such wilful 
•desertion as can no way be remedied by the church or civil magis- 
trate, is cause sufficient of dissolving the bond of marriage ; wherein 
a public and orderly course of proceeding is to be observed ; and the 
persons concerned in it not left to their own wills and discretion in 
liheir own case. (XXIV.: vi.) 

XL.II. THE LAW OF HONESTY. 

1. The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt not steal. 

2. The duties required in the eighth commandment are, truth, 
faithfulness, and justice in contracts and commerce between man 
and man ; rendering to every one his due ; restitution of goods 
unlawfully detained from the right owners thereof ; giving and 
lending freely, according to our abilities, and the necessities of 
others ; moderation of our judgments, wills, and affections, concern- 
ing worldly goods ; a provident care and study to get, keep, use, and 
^dispose of those things which are necessary and convenient for the 
.sustentation of our nature, and suitable to our condition ; a lawful 
■calling, and diligence in it ; frugality ; avoiding unnecessary law- 
suits, and suretyship, or other like engagements ; and an endeavor 
Toy all just and lawful means to procure, preserve, and further the 
wealth and outward estate of others, as well as our own. (111.) 

3. The sins forbidden in the eighth commandment, beside the 
neglect of the duties required, are theft, robbery, man-stealing, and 
receiving anything that is stolen ; fraudulent dealing, false weights 
and measures, removing land-marks, injustice and unfaithfulness in 
contracts between man and man, or in matters of trust ; oppression, 
extortion, usury, bribery, vexatious lawsuits, unjust enclosures and 
tlepopulations ; engrossing commodities to enhance the price, unlaw- 
ful callings, and all other unjust or sinful ways of taking or with- 
Jiolding from our neighbor what belongs to him, or of enriching 
ourselves ; covetousness, inordinate prizing and affecting worldly 
goods ; distrustful and distracting cares and studies in getting, 
keeping, and using them ; envying at the prosperity of others ; as 



(32 



THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 



likewise idleness, prodigality, wasteful gaming ; and all other ways 
whereby we do unduly prejudice our own outward estate ; and 
defrauding ourselves of the due use and comfort of that estate 
which God hath given us. ( 142.) 

XLIII. THE LAW OF TRUTHFULNESS. 

1. The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness 
against thy neighbour. 

2. The duties required in the ninth commandment are, the pre- 
serving and promoting of truth between man and man, and the good 
name of our neighbor, as well as our own ; appearing an 1 standing: 
for the truth ; and from the heart, sincerely, freely, clearly, and 
fully, speaking the truth, and only the truth, in matters of judgment 
and justice, and in all other things whatsoever ; a charitable esteem 
of our neighbors ; loving, desiring, and rejoicing in their good 
name ; sorrowing for, and covering of their infirmit'es ; freely 
acknowledging of their gifts and graces, defending their innocency ; 
a ready receiving of a good report, and unwillingness to admit of an 
evil report concerning them ; discouraging tale-bearers, flatterers, 
and slanderers ; love and care of our own good name, and defending 
it when need requireth ; keeping of lawful promises ; studying and 
practicing of whatsoever things are true, honest, lovely, and of good 
report. ( 144.) 

3. The sins forbidden in the ninth commandment are, all prej- 
udicing of the truth, and the good name of our neighbors as well 
as our own, especially in public judicature ; giving false evidence, 
suborning false witnesses, wittingly appearing and pleading for an 
evil cause, out-facing and over-bearing the truth ; passing unjust 
sentence, calling evil good, and good evil ; rewarding the wicked 
according to the work of the righteous, and the righteous according 
to the work of the wicked ; forgery, concealing the truth, undue 
silence in a just cause, and holding our peace when inquity calleth. 
for either a reproof from ourselves, or complaint to others ; speaking 
the truth unseasonably, or maliciously to a wrong end, or perverting 
it to a wrong meaning, or in doubtful and equivocal expression, to- 
the prejudice of truth or justice ; speaking untruth, lying, slander- 
ing, backbiting, detracting, tale-bearing, whispering, scoffing, revil- 
ing, rash, harsh, and partial censuring; misconstruing intentions, 
words, and actions ; flattering, vainglorious boasting, thinking or 
speaking too highly or too meanly of ourselves or others ; denying 
the gifts and graces of God ; aggravating smaller faults ; hiding, 
excusing, or extenuating of sins, when called to a free confession £ 



THE LAW OF CONTENTMENT. 



63 



unnecessarily discovering of infirmities ; raising false rumors ; re- 
ceiving and countenancing evil reports, and stopping our ears against 
just defense ; evil suspicion ; envying or grieving at the deserved 
credit of any ; endeavoring or desiring to impair it, rejoicing in 
their disgrace and infamy ; scornful contempt, fond admiration ; 
breach of lawful promises ; neglecting such things as are of good 
report ; and practicing or not avoiding ourselves, or not hindering 
what we can in others, such things as procure an ill-name. ( 145.) 

XLIV. THE LAW OP CONTENTMENT. 

1. The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neigh- 
bour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his 
man- servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any 
thing that is thy neighbour's. 

\ 2. The duties required in the tenth commandment are such a full 
contentment with our own condition, and such a charitable frame 
of the whole soul towards our neighbor, as that all our inward 
motions and affections touching him, tend unto and further all that 
good which is his. (147.) 

3. The sins forbidden in the tenth commandment are, discontent- - 
ment with our own estate, envying and grieving at the good of our 
neighbor, together with all inordinate motions and affections to any 
thing that is his. ( 148.) 

XLV. THE LAW COMPREHENDED IN LOVE. 

1. The sum of the four commandments containing our duty to 
God is, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our 
soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind. (102.) 

2. The sum of the six commandments which contain our duty to 
man is, to love our neighbor as ourselves, and to do to others what 
we would have them to do to us. ( 122.) 

XLVI. TRANSGRESSION AND THE PENALTY. 

1. No man is able, either of himself, or by any grace received in 
this life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God ; but doth 
daily break them in thought, word, and deed. ( 149.) 

2. All transgressions of the law of God are not equally heinous ; 
but some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, 
are more heinous in the sight of God than others. (150.) 

3. Sins receive their aggravations, 



64 



THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 



( 1.) From the persons offending : If they be of riper age, greater 
experience, or grace ; eminent for profession, gifts, place, office, 
guides to others, and whose example is likely to be followed by 
others. 

(2.) From the parties offended: If immediately against God, 
his attributes, and worship against Christ, and his grace ; the Holy 
Spirit, his witness, and workings ; against superiors, men of emi- 
nency , and such as we stand especially related and engaged u nto ; 
against any of the saints, particularly weak brethren, the souls of 
them or any other ; and the common good of all or many. 

( 3.) From the nature and quality of the offense : If it be against 
the express letter of the law, break many commandments, contain 
in it many sins ; if not only conceived in the heart, but break forth 
in words and actions, scandalize others, and admit of no reparation ; 
if against means, mercies, judgments, light of nature, conviction of 
conscience, public or private admonition, censures of the church, 
civil punishments ; and our prayers, purposes, promises, vows, cove- 
nants, and engagements to God or men ; if done deliberately, wilfully, 
presumptuously, impudently, boastingly, maliciously, frequently, 
obstinately, with delight, continuance, or relapsing after repentance. 

(4.) From circumstances of time and place: If on the Lord's 
day, or other times of divine worship ; or immediately before, or 
after these, or other helps to prevent or remedy such miscarriages ; 
if in public, or in the presence of others, who are thereby likely to 
be provoked or defiled. ( 151. ) 

4. Every sin, even the least, being against the sovereignty, good- 
ness, and holiness of God, and against his righteous law, deserveth 
his wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come, and 
cannot be expiated but by the blood of Christ. ( 152.) 

XLVII. CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 

1. The liberty which Christ hath purchased for believers under 
the gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the con- 
demning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law ; and in their 
being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and 
dominion of sin, from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the 
victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation ; as also in their free 
access to God, and their yielding obedience unto him, not out of 
slavish fear, but a child-like love, and a willing mind. All which 
were common also to believers under the law ; but under the New 
Testament, the liberty of Christians is further enlarged in their free- 
dom from the yoke of the ceremonial law, to which the Jewish 



GOOD WORKS. 



65 



church was subjected ; and in greater boldness of access to the 
throne of grace, and in fuller communications of the free Spirit of 
God, than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of. ( XX.: i.) 

2. God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from 
the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in any thing 
contrary to his word, or beside it, in matters of faith or worship. So 
that to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commandments out 
of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience ; and the re- 
quiring an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to 
destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also. (XX.: n.) 

3. They who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, do practice any 
sin, or cherish any lust, do thereby destroy the end of Christian 
liberty ; which is, that, being delivered out of the hands of our 
enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and 
righteousness before him, all the days of our life. (XX.: in.) 

4. And because the powers which God hath ordained, and the 
liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God to 
destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another ; they 
who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful 
power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiasti- 
cal, resist the ordinance of God. And for their publishing of such 
opinions, or maintaining of such practices as are contrary to the 
light of nature or to the known principles of Christianity, whether 
concerning faith, worship, or conversation ; or to the power of god- 
liness; or such erroneous opinions or practices, as, either in their 
own nature, or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them, are 
destructive to the external peace and order which Christ hath estab- 
lished in the church, they may lawfully be called to account, and 
proceeded against by the censures of the Church. (XX.: iv.) 

XLYIII. GOOD WORKS. 

1. Good works are only such as God hath commanded in his holy 
word, and not such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by 
men out of blind zeal, or upon any pretense of good intention. 
(XVI.: i.) 

2. These good works, done in obedience to God's commandments, 
are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith ; and by them 
believers manifest their thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, 
edify their brethren, adorn the profession of the gospel, stop the 
mouths of the adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship 
they are, created in. Christ Jesus thereunto, that, having their fruit 
unto holiness, they may have the end, eternal life. (XVI.: nr.) 



66 



THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 



3. Their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but 
wholly from the Spirit of Christ. And that they may be enabled 
thereunto, besides the graces they have already received, there is 
required an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit, to work in 
them to will and to do, of his good pleasure ; yet are they not here- 
upon to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any 
duty unless upon a special motion of the Spirit ; but they ought to be 
diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them. (XVI.: in.) 

4. They who in their obedience attain to the greatest height 
which is possible in this life, are so far from being able to superero- 
gate, and to do more than God requires, that they fall short of much 
which in duty they are bound to do. ( XVI. : iv.) 

5. We cannot by our best works, merit pardon of sin, or eternal 
life, at the hand of God, by reason of the great disproportion that is 
between them and the glory to come, and the infinite distance that 
is between us and God, whom, by them, we can neither profit, nor 
satisfy for the debt of our former sins ; but when we have done all 
we can, we have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants ; 
and because, as they are good, they proceed from his Spirit ; and, as 
they are wrought by us, they are defiled and mixed with so much 
weakness and imperfection, that they cannot endure the severity of 
God's judgment. (XVI.: v.) 

6. Yet notwithstanding, the persons of believers being accepted 
through Christ, their good works also are accepted in him, not as 
though they were in this life wholly unblamable and unreprovable 
in God's sight ; but that he, looking upon them in his Son, is pleased 
to accept and reward that which is sincere, although accompanied 
with many weaknesses and imperfections. ( XVI.: vi.) 

7. Works done by unregenerate men, although for the matter of 
them they may be things which God commands and of good use 
both to themselves and others ; yet because they proceed not from 
a heart purified by faith ; nor are done in a right manner, according 
to the word ; nor to a right end, the glory of God ; they are there- 
fore imperfect, and cannot please God, or make a man meet to receive 
grace from God. And yet their neglect of them is more displeasing 
unto God. (XVI.: vn.: a.) 

XXiIX. THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. 

1. They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually 
called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall 
away from the state of grace ; but shall certainly persevere therein 
to the end, and be eternally saved. ( XVII.: i.) 



ASSURANCE OF GRACE AND SALVATION. 



67 



2. This perseverance of the saints depends, hot upon their own 
free-will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flow- 
ing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father ; upon 
the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ ; the 
abiding of the Spirit and of the seed of God within them ; and 
the nature of the covenant of grace ; from all which ariseth also the 
certainty and infallibility thereof. (XVII.: n.) 

3. Nevertheless, they may, through the temptation of Satan and 
of the world, the prevalency of corruption remaining in them, and 
the neglect of the means of their preservation, fall into grievous 
sins, and for a time continue therein : whereby they incur God's 
displeasure, and grieve his Holy Spirit ; come to be deprived of some 
measure of their graces and comforts ; have their hearts hardened, 
and their consciences wounded ; hurt and scandalize others, and 
bring temporal judgments upon themselves. (XVII.: in.) 

L. ASSURANCE OP GRACE AND SALVATION. 

1. Although hypocrites, and other unregenerate men, may vainly 
deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presumptions of 
being in. the favor of God and estate of salvation; which hope of 
theirs shall perish ; yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and 
love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before 
him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in a state 
of grace, and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God ; which 
hope shall never make them ashamed. (XVIII.: i.) 

2. This certainly is not a bare conjectural and probable persua- 
sion, grounded upon a fallible hope ; but an infallible assurance of 
faith, founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, 
the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are 
made, the testimony of the Spirit of adoption witnessing with our 
spirits that we are the children of God ; which Spirit is the earnest 
of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption. 
(XVIII.: ii.) 

3. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of 
faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many 
difficulties before he be partaker of it ; yet, being enabled by the 
Spirit to know the things which are freely given him of God, he 
may, without extraordinary revelation in the right use of ordinary 
means, attain thereunto. And therefore it is the duty of every one 
to give all diligence to make his calling and election sure ; that 
thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy 
Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheer- 



68 



THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 



fulness in the duties of obedience, the proper fruits of this assur- 
ance ; so far is it from inclining men to looseness. (XVIII.: Hi.) 

4. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation in di- 
vers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted ; as by negligence in 
preserving of it ; by falling into some special sin, which woundeth the 
conscience, and grieveth the Spirit ; by some sudden or vehement 
temptation ; by God's withdrawing the light of his countenance, and 
suffering even such as fear him to walk in darkness and to have no 
light. Yet are they never utterly destitute of that seed of God, and 
life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity 
of heart and conscience of duty out of which, by the operation of 
the Spirit, this assurance may in due time be revived, and by the 
which, in the meantime, they are supported from utter despair. 
(XVIII.: rv.) 



THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 



LI. THE DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION. 

1. Death being threatened as the wages of sin, it is appointed « 
unto all men once to die ; for that all have sinned. ( 84.) 

2. The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corrup- 
tion ; but their souls, ( which neither die nor sleep,) having an im- 
mortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The 
souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are re- 
ceived into the highest heavens, and the souls of the wicked are 
cast into hell. Besides these two places for souls separated from 
their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none. (XXXII.: i.; a.) 

3. The righteous shall be delivered from death itself at the last 
day, and even in death are delivered from the sting and curse of it ; 
so that although they die, yet it is out of God's love, to free them 
perfectly from sin and misery, and to make them capable of further 
communion with Christ in glory, which they then enter, upon. (85.) 

4. The communion in glory with Christ, which the members of 
the invisible church enjoy immediately after death, is in that their 
souls are then made perfect in holiness, and received into the highest 
heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory ; 
waiting for the full redemption of their bodies, which even in death 
continue united to Christ, and rest in their graves as in their beds, 
till at the last day they be again united to their souls. Whereas the 
souls of the wicked are at their death cast into hell, where they re- 
main in torments and utter darkness ; and their bodies kept in their 
graves, as in their prisons, until the resurrection and judgment of 
the great day. ( 86.) 

5. At the last day, there shall be a general resurrection of the 
dead, both of the just and unjust ; when they that are then found 
alive shall in a moment be changed ; and the selfsame bodies of the 
dead which are laid in the grave, although with different qualities, 
being then again united to their souls forever, shall be raised up by 
the power of Christ. The bodies of the just, by the Spirit of Christ, 
and by virtue of his resurrection as their head, shall be raised in 
power, spiritual and incorruptible, and made like to his glorious 
body : and the bodies of the wicked shall be raised up in dishonor 
by him as an offended judge. (XXXII.: n.; 87.) 

6 69 

It • 



THE LIFE EVERLASTING. 



LH. THE JUDGMENT AND THE ETERNAL GLORY. 

1. Immediately after the resurrection shall follow the general 
and final judgment of angels and men ; the day and hour whereof 
no man knoweth, that all may watch and pray, and be ever ready for 
the coming of the Lord. ( 88.) 

2. On the great day which God hath appointed, he will judge 
the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and 
judgment is given of the Father. In which day, not only the apos- 
tate angels shall be judged, but likewise all persons that have lived 
upon earth, shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an 
account of their thoughts, words, and deeds ) and to receive accord- 
ing to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil. 
(XXXIII.: i.; a.) 

3. At the day of judgment, the wicked, who know not God, and 
obey not the- gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be set on Christ's left 
hand, and upon clear evidence, and full conviction of their own 
consciences, shall have the fearful but just sentence of condemna- 
tion pronounced against them ; and thereupon shall be cast out from 
the favorable presence of God, and the glorious fellowship with 
Christ, his saints, and all his holy angels, into hell, to be punished 
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and 
from the glory of his power, and with unspeakable torments, both of 
body and soul, with the devil and his angels forever. (XXX.: n.; 89.) 

4. At the day of judgment, the righteous, being caught up to 
Christ in the clouds, shall be set on his right hand, and there openly 
acknowledged and acquitted, shall join with him in the judging of 
reprobate angels and men ; and shall be received into heaven, where 
they shall be fully and forever freed from all sin and misery ; filled 
with inconceivable joys; made perfectly holy and happy both in 
body and soul, in the company of innumerable saints and angels, but 
especially in the immediate vision and fruition of God the Father, 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, to all eternity. ( 90.) 

Amen and Amen. 

70 



THE CATECHISMS. 



The substantial agreement of all the Reformed Symbols appears 
remarkably complete when all are arranged in the same order. 

The Shorter Catechism may be arranged according to the plan of 
the Apostles' Creed by observing the following order : 1-28, 29, 85, 
87, 86,. 30-36, 88-107, 39-84, 37, 38. 

Amendments : No. 85 should have the order of " faith " and " re- 
pentance " reversed as in the Larger Catechism. 

To No. 40 add : "And this law is still in force to lead us to Christ, 
and as a rule of life." 

To No. 84 add : " But believers are delivered from the penalty of 
the law by their union with Christ who was made a curse for them." 

The Heidelberg Catechism, which contains the Apostles' Creed, 
may, with a few amendments in the questions, be arranged in the 
same manner, as follows : 22-26,* 6, 27, 28, 7-19, 29-53, 88-90, 20, 21, 
59-61, 54, 55, 83-85, 65-82, 116-129, 56, 1-3, 87, 86, 92-113, 4, 5, 114, 91, 
62-64, 115, 57, 58. 

The "compendium" also may, without difficulty, be put in the 
same order, as follows : 20-23, 8-17, 24-39, 18, 67, 19, 48, 43-45, 40-42, 
49-63, 70-74, 1-7, 69, 68, 46, 64, 47, 66, 65. 

71 



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